Root Beer Float

Recycled Wood – Wyoming Snow Fence

“We’ll, I’m not quite sure. This wood comes from a fence up on ____ at about 8500 feet In elevation,” Dirk said as he released the latch on the trailer strap. “Up there, the sage grows about 5 feet high.” The trailer is loaded with long strips of silvery, weathered wood. The boards are beat; chewed up from years standing proud on the high desert plains of Wyoming. The raised grain exposed in ways only years of frequent sandblasting can accomplish. It looks like no other.

“The state biologist said every August, when that sage blooms, it releases this oil; it gets all tangled up in the breeze like a mix of spider webs,” he says. The load is piled high on the old, rusted flatbed. The weight of which should be stressing the springs to the max. One would expect them to be flat under the bundle. But, they stand proud. Like the first day coming off the assembly line.

“When the wind carries the oils from the tips of the sage bushes, it blows right over and gets caught up on the fence. Because the sage is so tall, it blows directly onto the boards. It doesn’t happen anywhere else because the sage isn’t tall enough to spit the oil directly on the fence. It goes under.”