I listened to the voice of a friend on the phone and, after a pause, replied, "I would be stupid to turn that down. Totally stupid!"
The friend, Mary, had just told me that she and her husband Shawn were going to come to my house and buck and split a large pile of spruce firewood. I had in my yard.
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| The very talented Shawn and his homemade fireweed handling tool. Shawn is widely known as an artist who casts bronze items and owns a business called Bronze Ox. |
I'll tell you, my first reaction was to prove that I WAS INDEED stupid and politely reply, "Oh, no. Thank you so much but I can do it. In fact, I like doing it."
I came to my senses and, while I can do it and like doing it, who was I kidding? So, I gushed all over myself at her wonderful offer and there they were on the appointed day.
First a couple cords of logs had to be cut to size. Then those lengths split and hauled to the woodshed and stacked.
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| Mary wears a lot more safety devices that I do. For me, a pair of gloves and ear plugs. |
I tried to help for a while by picking out the smaller pieces that didn't need to be split, but after a while I was getting in the way of their well times teamwork.
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| Mary is a retired RN. |
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| Into the woodshed and stacked!!! |
SO, I jacked up the lawn mower so I could air a flat tire and went off to mow the various lawns around here.
So blessed to have such thoughtful neighbors as friends.
For openers : IF a giant like Shawn (photo 1) was to offer to assist me I would be afraid to say no to him! Wowie. Especially with Shawn holding that fearsome looking tool in his right hand (photo 1). So we congratulate you for coming to your senses and saying "Yes Shawn and Yes Mary." Knowing Mary is a retired RN we know that she can patch up people who say no to Shawn. One who gives and never takes needs all our prayers for heaven's sakes Gullible. Atta Girl. Cap and Patti & Patti and Cap here rooting you on Gullible.
ReplyDeleteWe can well imagine how good that made Shawn and Mary feel to be able to do the wood for you. You likely "made their day!" It makes us feel good to just read this post and to be able to leave a comment!! Patti and Cap with smiles . . .
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gullible! How Truly Blessed you are to have fine, selfless friends who love helping others. It restores my faith in mankind. Those logs would have taken you the rest of summer to get cut and split. Shawn and Mary are the 'Dynamic Duo', 'fer sure! I resided in Wasilla for 21yrs and I never...never...never split any logs at all! My little house on an acre only had a gas radiant heater (and baseboard when needed) and I chose not to dirty the small fireplace in the living room. They're not very efficient, anyways! I did save some impressive 'rounds' of cut birch that MEA so wickedly cut on the perimeter of my land. I stockpiled, but never got to splitting them. I probably still have a lot of 'city-boy' in me. Of the 3-4 homes I've owned, with fireplace, I've never split more than !/4 cord! lol Kudos to Shawn and Mary!
ReplyDeletePs...the comment above was from Cap's friend, Michael
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