Cecily Pegues knows she has a big responsibility to her farm and, more importantly, her family. Her parents had bought the farm in Decatur just after World War II. It was the farm she grew up on while it grew on her. And that responsibility extends to the cows and even to the trees that used to stand in front of the home.
"For every creature that's here and the balance between them," said Pegues.
If she could guess the live oak had been there "hundreds of years." When the December EF-2 tornado tore through Decatur, it took down homes as well as the live oak and a number of pine trees that line the property.
"It's been a traumatic nine months. I'm still cleaning up," said Pegues.
Pegues had an idea to take a negative and turn it into a positive. She enlisted the help of Kevin Roach and Jimmy Hobbs, who specialize in chainsaw art.
"Our slogan is carving stories," Roach said. "Chisels are my paintbrush."
Roach has been carving for seven years and almost exclusively for the last four.
The pine trees Pegues lost that line her property are now lines in the survival story. Roach and Hobbs have turned the destruction from the tornado into art. There is some form of carving, chain-sawing and painting on each of the 16 pine trees on the Pegues property. The trees have purposely placed pairings of animals that capture the spirit for Pegues.
"Every animal is out there for a reason," said Pegues.
For example, the raven and the fox, spider and rabbit, wolf and bat, even a standalone bear.
"I was not willing to look out there at destruction. I set up a fresh barrier," she said.
To Pegues, every carving has a purpose both symbolically and spiritually.
She's thankful for a lot of things: for people like James and Mike McMillan who rushed to help clean up on the day of the tornado and beyond, and for those who have helped transform stubs of trees into works of art.
"It was a terrible day, but it was made much better by friends," she said.
The day WFAA arrived at the Pegues ranch, Roach was working on three beams of sunlight on the backside of one of the trees. Roach has a number of wood sculptures throughout the town of Decatur and takes pride in the craft.
"For most sculptors, [the art] found them... they didn't find it," said Roach.
Pegues has a few more art projects on the farm left to be done. And while she worries about the loss of habitat the downed trees created, she is thankful to be continuing the family farming legacy in a slightly more colorful way.