After switching from Lawyer to Sawyer, I turn fallen trees into stories. From 1998 to 2019, I built one of the largest family law firms in the southeast (Meriwether & Tharp, LLC), but then I made a decision that shocked many. In 2020, I changed one letter in my description and went from Lawyer to Sawyer. Now I turn fallen trees into stories. Ironically enough, in law school, I studied environmental law and was even the President of the Environmental Law Society one year. But, I never practiced in that field. Now I am part of a group of sawyers that help keep urban trees out of the landfill while giving them a second life as furniture, flooring, etc. I am doing more to help the environment today than I ever did as a lawyer. To be clear, however, if you see me hugging a tree, it is only to measure the board feet in the log. Today, we work with commercial property and residential home owners. We help businesses and individuals craft a story about the furniture in their homes and buildings by allowing them to re-use the timber on their property. We use a Wood-Mizer LT40 Wide Portable Sawmill to mill up the logs. Once they are milled, we let them air dry down to 30% moisture content. Then we move them into one of our kilns to dry them down to 8% moisture content. At that stage, we sterilize the wood to kill any potential dormant insect eggs that could be hidden in the lumber.