Saturday, January 8, 2011

Labor-making devices

It struck me this morning, as I was straining every muscle in my body to lift a log half my size onto the back of our four wheeler, that there is something soul-satisfying about doing physical labor. And yet somehow we, or perhaps I should reign that universal statement I was about to make back down to "I", spend a lot of my time and money trying to avoid that very thing.

Modern life is a backward thing sometimes, isn't it?

So here's to the construction workers, the snow-shovelers, the loggers, the builders, the roofers, the carpenters, the laborers. I think you, perhaps, have held onto something most of us have forgotten.

My job: Clear sticks, load and unload logs on four-wheeler.

Dad's job: Felling trees, cutting logs, clearing area, helping me start the faulty four-wheeler after I gave up on it.
It should be noted that he also did everything I did and more before I came out. I'm no early riser. Also, that is indeed a pond that tree fell on. Looks safe, huh?

What the country needs are a few labor-making inventions. ~Arnold Glasow

12 comments:

  1. I hope you were rewarded with a nice, crackling fire after all that hard work! : )

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  2. Couldn't agree more... something so good about doing physical work. I love it. I've worked on a few cars since getting home and I've loved every minute of using my hands for something other than web-surfing and sermon writing again....

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  3. I guess I'd have to agree......but, I must admit that excitement was one of the last things on my mind when the truck came this morning to drop off the several cords of wood that I knew I would spend the next weeks cutting, splitting, and stacking. That's enough work, I can't imagine going into the woods and hauling the wood as well....

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  4. is the pond... frozen? hehe.

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  5. Annah: Thanks! Carrying that thing more and more these days.

    Naomi: Well, not with that wood, but yes.

    Nate: Cars I wouldn't really know about...

    Beth: It's true...the anticipation of all that time and work ain't so thrilling!

    RS: Yes, but when the tree fell it broke through the ice and so there was a big puddle on the ice that Dad had no problem sloshing through and I stayed away from.

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  6. I think I should specify that "that thing" is a camera. Unclear, unclear.

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  7. There are a lot of things that modern society has backwards.

    When I was doing construction after high school I know I felt quite satisfied after coming home from work. Most of the rest of guys complained about their job and how it was a dead end job and didn't pay much, but now I think that their dissatisfaction was more a product of their personal life than anything else. To be fair though there were legitimate problems with the company we were working for.

    In the end though I enjoyed the work a lot, despite the issues.

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  8. there's a different tired after physical labor... and a satisfaction that doesn't occur in other less physical activities. A good look at your day...thanks!

    Bonnie

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  9. It can be a lot of fun. I went shoveling with my best friend and her family, and we did a lot of neighborhood drives- it took all day, but I didn't complain once. I didn't even think too, I was having too good of a time!

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  10. Looks like Dad's software works on daughters but not sons!

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