When I came across this near the pines, I was stumped. The tree that this once was grew near my northwest corner in some deep, good, completely un-Ozark type soil. It is close to but not right on the fence, and there are plenty of other trees of its same size growing nearby. It's not apparent why this particular tree was taken while so many around it were not. That won't stop me from making a guess, of course. I'm going to say that this tree was cut down to be used as a fence post, perhaps at the nearby corner. (The running length of the fence has steel posts. The corners have wooden posts.) I base my guess on two things I do know about the tree. First, the stump shows that the diameter of the tree was pretty good for a career as a fence post. Second, the cut was made so very low to the ground, allowing more of the trunk to be preserved. The ring pattern suggests that the tree was fairly straight, which helps support the idea that it might have been a suitable post tree as well. I wish my tree identification skills were better so that I could make an educated guess about what type of tree it was. Given that the stump has hardly rotted away at all suggests to me that it is a wood that is rot resistant -- and thus would make a good post. These are the kinds of things I spend my days thinking about. It's a benign sort of madness. Missouri calendar:

• The Missouri Natural Events Calendar is sadly blank for today.

Today in Missouri history:

• The First Missouri Volunteers marched on the Mexican city of Chihuahua on this day in 1847. Looking more like bears than men, they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, but they surprised their opponents and opened Mexico to further conquest by the United States.

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