- Wood log houses vary from a hastily thrown-together survival shelter in the forest to designer homes in the suburbs. Logs are a versatile building material that can be piled on top of each other for a one-story or multistory building. An added feature is that once the logs are stripped, the wood offers an aesthetically pleasing glow to the building. If cedar logs are used, the smell adds appeal.
- Wood seats may be as simple as log stumps for people to sit on to ornately carved park benches. An easy log chair is to take a log that's, say, 3 feet long and cut it in half vertically for 18 inches with a chainsaw. Make a horizontal cut and you have an instant chair for the deck.
- Wooden logs have long been used for artistic creations -- for example, the totem poles that are up to 40 feet long and carefully carved by Native Americans. These religious and artistic works are found on the Northwest Coast, and were made by the Kwakiutl, Tlingit and Haida. In southern Alaska, the tribes of the Athabasca also carved totem poles, though the logs were smaller. A resurgence of interest in this age-old wooden log art is an indication that it's thriving for some people.
- You can use wooden logs split or cut in half for stairs if they're secured to a metal frame. Similarly, if put down side-by-side -- either face-up or down -- logs set in cement make attractive walkways.
- In West Africa, every house has a log mortar and pestle for grinding corn, pounding yam and various other kitchen tasks. The mortar is hollowed out from a log, and the pestle -- which may be as long as the woman holding it -- is whittled away until it fits inside the mortar.
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