Carl's first job was to help me find a log to carve, and bring it back to town. Knowing that I only use dead wood for my artwork, he took me up the mountain to a place where a landslide had brought down a lot of trees. Kelly and baby Kahlil came along for the walk. Carl never did use that wheelbarrow. You will shortly see why!

It was the end of the wet season, so our walk was punctuated by gentle showers.

I flopped around the muddy hillside like a displaced sea turtle while Carl leaped about gracefully, pointing out interesting finds. During one brief shower, I took shelter under a tangle of roots while Carl moved off to the edge of the landslide. He called out, "I think you'll like this one!" I could tell he was excited. It took me twenty minutes to struggle over for a look.

It was beautiful. Carl told me it was chaconia, a good durable wood and the national flower of Trinidad! It was too big: about fifteen feet high, still rooted in the hillside. Carl left me to figure out which branches to cut off, while he fetched his friend Blondie to help us.

Right on the hillside the sculptural work began as Carl with his bush knife and Blondie with his chainsaw trimmed the tree and cut it out of the earth.

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