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ALDO LEOPOLD BENCH
To spy a Leopold bench in someone's yard is to know something about the family who there
resides. Even if you haven't read Leopold's opening lines,
"There are some who can live
without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the delights and
dilemmas of one who cannot,"
from A Sand County Almanac, you will appreciate this easy-
to-build bench. If left untreated, this stable bench develops a characteristic gray patina,
however, putting some preservative where bench meets ground will prolong its life. Its form,
resting alone under a tree or in congregation around a firepit, reminds us of Leopold's
thoughtfulness:
"When some remote ancestor of ours invented the shovel, he became a
giver: He could plant a tree. And when the axe was invented, he became
a taker: He could chop it down. Whoever owns land has thus assumed,
whether he knows it or not, the divine functions of creating and
destroying plants."
"The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant,
'What good is it?' If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every
part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course
of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who
but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog
and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."
Materials:
One 2x6x33", one 2x10x30", one 2x8x10', six 3/8"x 31/2" carriage bolts with
washer and nut, twelve 3/8" x 31/2" #12 or #14 flathead wood screws. Use Douglas Fir for
your Leopold bench, if you can, and customize its size to suit you. The materials listed will
make a 33" bench, but you may choose to build out to 48".
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