[HN Gopher] More wood: The story of Manuel Soler and the largest...
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More wood: The story of Manuel Soler and the largest xiloteca in
Spain (2020)
Author : jacquesm
Score : 27 points
Date : 2024-02-11 07:31 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.denia.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.denia.com)
| asymmetric wrote:
| > "This is Manuel's xiloteca, not Denia's xiloteca, that here no
| one has put a hard part apart from me!".
|
| This article's translation is very low quality.
|
| Here's the original article, for those who speak Spanish:
| https://www.denia.com/mas-madera-la-historia-de-manuel-soler...
| codetrotter wrote:
| I understand a bit Spanish but do not speak it.
|
| Anyway, here is a translation done by GPT4.
|
| Grammatically, this translation is not great either. But it
| seems to be quite an improvement over the translation on the
| site at least.
|
| - - -
|
| "More Wood!": The Story of Manuel Soler and the Largest
| Xyloteque in Spain
|
| Hidden among the narrow streets of Les Rotes, just meters from
| the sea, lies a large plot of land that still respects the
| local vegetation. It offers a glimpse of what the area was like
| before it was overtaken by concrete. Amongst large and leafy
| trees lives Manuel Soler, in an idyllic fairytale cabin that he
| built himself not far from his most treasured possession.
| Despite the majority of neighbors being unaware, at the back of
| the property, in another wooden house also made by his hands,
| hides the largest xyloteque in Spain.
|
| "But, what is a xyloteque?", was the first thing I logically
| asked myself when my colleague shared the story with me. My
| vast knowledge of Greek led me to intuit that we were talking
| about a collection, just as when we speak of a library. But a
| collection of what? What is this "xilo" that sparked so much
| interest in its owner?
|
| When we arrived at the place, a picturesque spot with large
| pines, we went to the back where, in a wooden cabin with a sign
| reading "Xyloteque" next to the door, Manuel and his dog Caco
| awaited us. Inside, we found a room full of shelves where,
| instead of books, thousands of perfectly labeled woods are
| displayed. That was "xilo", excuse me, and this is the story of
| Manuel, which is necessary to know to understand the reason for
| his collection.
|
| Years of Transporting Elephants, Dodging Mines, and Fighting
| Pirates
|
| Manuel Soler, now 87 years old and the only inhabitant of the
| place along with Caco, was a merchant navy captain for 38
| years. He transported a wide variety of goods, from oil to, on
| one occasion, 3 elephants that he took to Seville for the Circo
| Price, he recalls amusedly. But the majority of his trips were
| spent transporting ammonia, which required him to rely on
| strict medication due to exposure, which, as he himself says,
| "was almost worse than the disease" as it caused vision loss to
| a large part of the crew.
|
| During his extensive experience, he had to navigate through
| mines that were left floating after the Vietnam War and even
| faced pirates on more than one occasion.
|
| This last part piques my interest, as what could be better than
| a good pirate story? Manuel tells us how he had to endure
| several boarding attempts on his journeys through Nigeria. On
| one occasion, an assailant managed to stealthily board his ship
| through the hawsehole, which is the opening in the hull through
| which the anchor chain passes. Fortunately, they detected and
| quickly apprehended him. "He was given several slaps and
| punches and jumped off the ship," leaving behind his knife,
| which Manuel still keeps to this day. But he also explains that
| other ships were not so lucky, as on several occasions, crew
| members were held captive, and captains were even murdered
| after the pirates managed to get the keys to the rooms where
| they stored materials and cargo.
|
| Since the age of 55, he has been enjoying retirement, partly
| because of the maritime regime and partly due to the mentioned
| problems suffered by those who transported substances like
| ammonia, which later "compensated" them by reducing their
| working life. And he does so in Denia, on the plot described at
| the beginning, despite being a native of Sueca. He decided to
| move to live in the Marina Alta after spending long leaves with
| a colleague camped in Les Rotes, when it was still "forest."
| This led him to appreciate the landscape and peace of the
| place, prompting him to acquire a piece of the area.
|
| "More Wood!"
|
| But the question remains. Why a xyloteque? It all started, he
| tells us, when during one of his jobs in Nigeria, some Italians
| gave him 6 samples. They were rectangles of wood perfectly cut
| so that their qualities could be better appreciated. But it
| stopped there until one day, already retired, while making a
| piece of furniture in the place where he now lives, he carved a
| piece identical to the cut of those Italians. "That's when the
| bug bit me, and I started to become interested in knowing all
| types of wood and bringing them home."
|
| He started by asking various pruners for different types of
| wood, and later even ended up making trips specifically to
| obtain precious samples that could only be found there. On one
| of those trips, to Cuba on that occasion, he even got rid of
| all the clothes he was carrying to return with his suitcase
| loaded with new acquisitions for his xyloteque. "More wood!"
| Manuel laughs. He also involved his acquaintances to get him
| specimens he did not have on their trips.
|
| Later, he joined an international association of collectors
| like himself, putting him in contact with other seekers around
| the world with whom he began to exchange specimens.
|
| Thus, he amassed approximately 4,260 samples that he now
| displays in his cabin. A great effort that began alone, though
| it influenced many pupils who now own their own xyloteques in
| various parts of Spain. But none have as many specimens as
| Manuel's, even though, unlike other collectors in the country,
| he has never received any support from any administration.
|
| "I have offered my xyloteque to three different mayors to be
| displayed in Denia, and they have always given me the
| runaround," he remembers somewhat frustrated. On one occasion,
| he even saw a large sign with text along the lines of Visit the
| Xyloteque of Denia, using his collection as a tourist
| attraction. Following this, during a visit he received from a
| group of tourists with a representative from the City Council,
| Manuel could no longer hold back, making it clear: "This is
| Manuel's xyloteque, not the xyloteque of Denia, since no one
| here has contributed a dime apart from me!"
|
| Inside Spain's Largest Xyloteque
|
| Manuel's xyloteque is a collection that has been meticulously
| cared for and admired among the top experts in the field. His
| collection and the knowledge he has acquired over the years
| have led him to participate in multiple conferences as an
| invited expert and he has even published several books. In some
| of these books, he documents the entire contents of his cabin
| with illustrations he has made himself.
|
| It is a collection from which one can learn countless pieces of
| knowledge. Walking among the shelves, I come across a piece of
| bamboo. Seeing my curiosity, Manuel asks me to pick it up and
| admire, above all, its size. It measures one meter. "It's not
| that much," I think. He tells me that this is how much that
| species grows each day, so much so that if you sit and watch
| it, you can see it growing.
|
| He also introduces me to Amourette, the most expensive wood in
| his collection due to its beauty and how difficult it is to
| find. Some of the samples in his collection come from trees
| that are at risk of disappearing today due to trends and the
| consumption of certain types or styles of furniture.
|
| But he has another item that is practically impossible to find
| elsewhere. He keeps it in a transparent jar hanging on the wall
| above two shelves. He doesn't say it, but I just discovered his
| crown jewel. In 1937, the Frenchman Ferdinand Navarra found
| hidden in a glacier the remains of a vessel. I surmise that the
| wood comes from there, but the story goes even further. The
| glacier was on Mount Ararat, which borders Turkey, Armenia, and
| Iran. It stands 5,180 meters tall, and the vessel was found
| under the ice near the summit.
|
| Ferdinand Navarra managed to recover a piece of wood and send
| samples to various research centers in Cairo, Bordeaux, Paris,
| and Madrid. In this research, it was discovered that the wood
| was from White Oak, a species that does not exist today. But
| the most striking fact is that its age was estimated to be
| about 5,000 years old, dating back to the time of the Universal
| Flood. Manuel doesn't say it, showing himself even somewhat
| skeptical, but he leads me to connect the dots until a name
| comes up in the conversation that the vessel could be known by
| today. The name of the most famous ark, owned by the most
| famous Noah.
|
| However, when asked about his most prized piece, he moves away
| from it to reveal the most sentimental part of his collection:
| the lignum vitae (Guaiacum). This is a hard and heavy wood with
| which he lived during his long life at sea. It was used to
| manufacture the bearings for the propeller shafts of ships. All
| the ships he sailed on had it, so it's no wonder he had a
| special attachment to that piece of wood that is now displayed
| in his xyloteque.
|
| The Future of the Collection
|
| A question, which reveals itself to be quite foolish after
| Manuel's response, arises as I admire such a vast array of
| woods: Is there any wood he feels is missing from his shelves?
| He answers that there are more than 70,000 different kinds of
| wood, so of course, the collection could continue to grow.
|
| Now, he does not seem very convinced to continue with this
| endeavor. Manuel has spent more than 20 years creating and
| caring for his xyloteque, for which public administrations have
| shown little interest. And now, with the visible limitations of
| age, he prefers to rest and contemplate the result of two
| decades of passion.
|
| A weariness I discover when joking about the possibility of
| termites discovering his collection and wanting to feast on it.
| He responds that there are always termites, so he had to treat
| his samples with great care every now and then. But now, he is
| somewhat indifferent and has stopped carrying out those
| laborious cares.
|
| Logically, I regret the joke immediately. Seeing his reaction,
| I ask if the xyloteque has closed its doors to the public
| forever. Manuel brightens up again and answers emphatically
| that not at all. His doors are open to everyone, and he will be
| delighted to continue receiving visits from those curious to
| enjoy a unique collection.
| wolfhumble wrote:
| Yes, there are some weird parts, e.g:
|
| > And he does it in Denia, in the plot described at the
| beginning, despite being native of Swedish. She decided to move
| to live in the Marina Alta after spending long permits with a
| fellow camper in Les Rotes, when it was still "forest".
|
| A rewrite and adding some context would be:
|
| And he does it in Denia, on the plot described at the
| beginning, even though originally coming from Sueca, a town
| about 75km from Denia (in the autonomous community of Valencia,
| not in Sweden). He decided to live in la Marina Alta (a
| 'comarca' in Valencia that includes Denia), after long
| vacations camping with a companion in Les Rotes (south of
| Denia), when it still was a forest.
|
| => Sueca could also be a Swedish female, so I am sure that
| threw the automatic translation for a ride . . .
| jacquesm wrote:
| Yes, I noticed that too but I figured better a bad translation
| than none at all, this guy is amazing.
| wigster wrote:
| making the images less visible as you hover is QUITE annoying.
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