Posted on 06/03/2013 5:52:40 PM PDT by virgil283
"The Eagle Scout and Dirty Jobs star on learning to fell trees and prepare firewood. ......When I was 14, I woke up one Saturday morning to see my father standing at the foot of my bed, sharpening a double-sided ax. "It's time," he said. "Let's go." My father has a tendency to start conversations in the middle. He's also suspicious of anything too modern. Like nouns.
"Time for what?" I said. Knowing the futility of the question before I even asked, I rolled out of bed, pulled on my jeans and work boots, and tried again. "Is it cold out?"
"Invigorating," he replied. "Your mother made oatmeal. Eat it fast."
Outside, the Massey Ferguson tractor idled impatiently as we loaded up the wood cart.......I can't even remember how many times my dad and I drove the old tractor down the stone road, through the lower pasture, and deep into the woods to do battle with the Pine, the Maple, the Oak, and the mighty Locusthis personal favorite. ("The hard wood puts up a tough fight, but it burns the best!") The fact that we heated most of the old farmhouse with nothing but a wood stove was a source of great pride for my father, and the inspiration for endless witticisms. ("Chop your own woodit'll warm you twice!")"....more ....
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
LOL!!!
bump
You were lucky!
Our Fathers must be pinchin their nose LOL
My they were patient.
Moms too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJskb1T4I-s
I remember when I took Pops lawnmower apart at 8 LOL
It's a workout. Split many a red oak for my Dad with his wedge. He finally bought a hydraulic log splitter after I left the roost.
Funny how that works.
It was all manual while there were 3 boys to do the chores.
LOL
A splitting maul is basically a sledgehammer with one edge sharpened.
Rest assured it is several times more effective at an ax for splitting wood.
At any rate, I just got Mom a nice lightweight lithium ion weed whacker so’s she could have at it if she wants. LOL
Of course it is easier on my back too.
Hydraulic wood splitters are for weenies. Real men go manual.
My brother was a ran the camera on one of the Deadliest Catch reunions in New Orleans. He said Mike Rowe was a nice guy and definitely gay.
Dad used his axe to cut wood for a living...maybe two cords a day.
In the mid-1960’s, a salesman came up to him and said, “You use this here new gadget called the chainsaw, and you’ll double your output to 4 cords a day!”
Dad didn’t like all the new-fangled stuff...but to be polite, he said he’d try it for a week. If he was able to cut 4 cords, he’d keep the chainsaw.
First day, he could only get 2 cords, but he improved each day so that by the end of the week he had made it up to 3 1/2 cords each day.
When the salesman returned, Dad gave it back, saying he could only cut 3 1/2 cords trying his hardest.
The salesman looked stymied and said that there must be something wrong with the chainsaw. He checked the gas and the oil and the chain. They looked good. He pulled the cord and started it up with a loud brraappp!
Dad yelled in surprise, “WHAT”S THAT NOISE?”
So are electricity, running water, indoor plumbing and motorized vehicles.
My first job was shoveling horse $hit. I went to a high school nick named Corn Field High. I walked a quarter mile to enter the woods to hunt. I fished farm ponds I rode to on my bike. Date night weekends could be spent driving back roads that never ended...unless it was to park.
Micro and I are the same age - I just lack his voice and stage talent, but I do know that Baltimore has some awfully pretty country even now...country that has to be worked.
I'm in the burbs of Memphis now...not much different than than the burbs of DC growing up in the 60's and 70's.
LOL!!!!
I can recall getting a job at the speed barn when I was a kid.
Wow! Just Wow! Working at the track?
It took me one hour to realize I was shoveling **** LOL
Heeheeeheehee!!!!
You must be my long lost sibling!
It was a life lesson.
Uncle got me that job.
Great guy.
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