The Grinch Who Stole Tree Stems

I was walking with a neighborhood friend tonight, stretching our legs and trying to burn off some holiday excess, when she told me about something strange she saw earlier this evening.

There was a man walking up and down the streets in our neighborhood carrying a small saw. He would stop at each Christmas tree discarded at the curb, bend over the tree and saw off the stem of the tree. As my friend and I walked the streets, we checked each tree we found and sure enough, the stems were missing, cut right up to the start of the tree branches.

This odd sight raises a lot of questions. Mainly, what on earth was this guy doing?

Maybe he has a wood-burning stove in his house as one of our other neighbors does. But if that's it, he's only getting about four to six inches of fuel at a shot. Is that worth the effort?

My friend thought maybe he uses the tree stems for candle holders or some other crafty-type project, in which case cruising the streets undetected under cover of darkness might make a lot of sense. He could get a lot of stems and make candle holders to last him a lifetime -- or to resell for an outrageous profit in Door County or Lake Geneva.

Don't know, but if you see him, do something we didn't get the chance to do. Ask him what's he's up to.