Creek Running North: Remember that old saw

Creek Running North:
July 27, 2005
Remember that old saw

Contra Costa Times columns, June 2001 - Faithful Old Tool on Cutting Edge
There's just something about a Japanese pruning saw. Or several things. For instance, the saws cut on the pull stroke, rather than the push stroke. This is an important difference when you're pruning a tree from the inside, 20 feet up, precariously balanced as the wind picks up; pulling allows you to maintain your center of gravity. A pruning sensei might put it this way:

balance and power come from drawing inward.
Pushing outward is weakness;
a fall onto the agave follows.