Wood Measurement Experiment

Not so cold but windy.   I watched swirling tornados of snow dance across the hay field.  By tonight the wind had brushed my driveway  clear of snow.  Well almost, the wind had left the snowy footprints where Whip and I had packed down the newly fallen snow on the morning constitutional.  The porch pot I made back in November is looking pretty good.  The winterberries are still hanging on the twigs though they have changed from a bright red to a burgundy color.  The house is dry - I can get a shock reaching for the light switch or a door handle.  Good time to check one of the winter experiments.  This one is actually for Brother Phil.  He gave me a piece of oak, drew a line across it, taped a piece of white paper to it, and left a tape measure.  He explained he wants to know how much the wood changed expanded/shrank while inside a house.  He'd cut the wood exactly to 16".  Around once a month I check the width along the line, with that tape measure, and write the measurement on the paper.  In August the wood had expanded larger than 16" but now in the dead of winter it's losing moisture content and shrinking.  I know there are tables where you can look up these stats dependent of the type of wood.   However, who doesn't get a kick out of looking through data points from a good experiment?