Lumber is life. That may sound dramatic, but the industry is vital as is the need for the product it produces. Chances are you understand more than most how amazing lumber is as a building product. Especially for you DIYers, to know how to work with lumber, and what you can do with Southern Yellow Pine specifically, is to truly appreciate its value.

There is, though, more to value about wood than what you can build with it. It is one of natures most important resources and beautiful in its own right.

And some folks have a few nice words to say about our favorite thing: lumber. As Dave Matthews Band maybe said one time but not really: What Wood You Say?

A tree's wood is also its memoir.
Woodworking requires a completely different kind of thinking and problem-solving ability than writing. With writing, you take a set of facts and ideas, and you reason your way forward to a story that pulls them together. With woodworking, you start with an end product in mind, and reason your way backward to the raw wood. 
 -Joshua Foer
I like making things. I have a wood shop at home. I am a terrible carpenter but I love doing it. 
 -P. J. O'Rourke