The tree for the first literary bench in Fryslân was sawn on Wednesday 23 March at Inlands Hout Van Leersum in Burgum.
It was a beautiful oak that stood near Staphorst. Sawyer Michiel could see from the growth rings that the tree had been in a place with a lot of light.
According to him, there was a nail at about one meter high, probably for a sign, or a letterbox, not a birdhouse in any case. After the last cut, a solid beam of about 560 kg remained and the whole sawmill smelled of delicious sweet, smoky whiskey.
Visual artist Ineke van der Blom was at the first step. She will continue to work with the wood in her studio in Marrum and turn it into a beautiful literary meeting bench in the center of Leeuwarden.
The bench is also part of the Sprekende stenen project. This project is part of Over de drempel. Poet Sytse Jansma provides the bench with a text.
