Daphne and Apollo
I had been working in a cabinet shop, and had been made manager of the lumber supply. I had a strange fixation, at this time, with maple wood. Perhaps it is partly due to the fact that I prefer pale women, or that the wavy grain made me think of curly hair or other feminine curves, but maple seemed to me to be sexy. I thought that if I ever commissioned a wood carver to make for me an erotic carving, I would want it to be from maple.This is what actually got me started on the wood woman, or tree woman. The fixation fell easily into consideration of the myth of Daphne and Apollo. Being expressed in this manner, it follows that there is the implication of the fruitless pursuit of a woman who turns suddenly cold and hard.