Hi Mark:

The woods are a great teacher, and a great comfort, too, I guess. I burn wood at home here each year and have scoured the forest w/ a saw myself. Besides the standard firewood species here, such as oak, maple, ash and beech, decades of woodworking have also introduced me to non-native species like mahogany, rosewood, and other exotics. Birds-eye maple or cherry from Appalachia falls somewhere in between.

Doing finish carpentry and woodworking in Maine, I have seen more pine than just about anything. But looking at old barns the past few years has found me scratching my head most times.

The old timbers most always take on a russet brown patina. And old growth timber has few knots and a slightly different appearance b/c of a tighter grain structure, it seems.

W/ the abundance of pine here in "The Pine Tree State" I would gather many barns are pine frames. But the color of time finds me often doing a double-take. My eyes are used to seeing fresh wood. This old stuff is kind of tricky to pinpoint--at least for me.

Kind of why I like this stuff, I guess. A old barn is most always a good detective story.