You Can’t Do It All

Last Saturday was Jenelle's birthday. It was also youth turkey season. And quiz camp. And to top it off, Blake had a piano recital at three in the afternoon.

They say that you can't do everything, but we tried.

I took the boys hunting for an hour and a half in the pouring rain at first light. We probably should have stayed in bed because all we got was wet and miserable, and we didn't hear a single gobble. We went home and got dried off and then the kids headed off to quiz camp. Jenelle and I did a few things around the house and then headed for the greenhouse and to Lowe's to get some potting soil and some ferns for the porch. Our main mission though, was to try to find a weeping cherry tree to plant in the yard. Jenelle has been wanting one of these for a while, and today was her day.

We found the perfect tree at the greenhouse and then picked up our other things at Lowes. To top it off, we stopped at Aces Run for some birthday lunch. That should have left me with just enough time to plant the tree when we got home, before having to pickup Blake and head to the piano recital. I'll have to interject here just to say that I don't normally eat a very big lunch. The knucklehead sandwich on the menu seemed like it would be about my size and style and so that's what I ordered. When our food arrived, well my sandwich and chips filled up an entire platter, and not a small platter either. It was delicious, and since I'm really not a box-it-up kind of guy, I ate it all. After that we headed home. I would still have an hour to plant the tree before we needed to leave.

When we got home I kicked off my shoes and sat down for just a minute. Between the early morning turkey hunt in the rain and the big lunch, my short minute turned into a forty-five minute nap and when I awoke I realized that I didn't have enough time to plant the tree. It would need to wait until Monday.

Early morning Monday found me going out to plant the tree. After a great weekend and feeling fully rested, the original project didn't seem to be very daunting, and so I added in cutting some tree's, removing a stump and getting a load of mulch to finish everything up.

Everything went great until I tried to remove the stump. I had cut down this tree several years back, and since it was a cherry tree, I assumed the stump would be half rotten and come right out. I assumed wrong. I dug around the stump and cut some of the roots off with the chainsaw. I kept hitting rocks that were embedded in the roots and the sparks would fly. After resharpening my saw for the third time, I gave up and resorted to chopping at the roots with a sharp bar. Slow and steady does the trick. When I thought I had it, I hooked a chain to my truck and gave it a jerk. Nothing budged. A couple of more jerks and still nothing. I went back to digging and found two more, six inch roots. So I chopped them off. Man, what a struggle! Back in the day Dad would have called a guy named Eddie Miller.  Eddie kept a little stash of dynamite for such a situation. A little bit of dynamite would have loosened that stump right up. Back on the farm, we called on Eddie on more than one occasion. From unplugging the pipe in the manure pit to cracking rocks and blowing stumps. Dynamite definitely has its place.

I’ve often said that there’s nothing better than having the right tools for the job. At the same time I’m not the best at practicing what I preach. Oftentimes I find myself doing projects with the wrong tools and instead of taking the time and money to get the tools for the job, I just work harder and make do with what I have. And so that's what I did with the stump. An excavator or backhoe would have been nice but I should have thought about that sooner. Dynamite? If it was still available, now that would have been fun. But it wasn't . . . and so I kept jerking on it with the truck. If you're guessing that in this part of the story is where my truck came apart, well you're wrong! Everything held together. The stump came out and the Toyoder had just a hint of pride in its pur.

After getting the tree planted and a load of mulch spread around, everything started to come together. Jenelle and I were both pleased with the outcome which made everything feel worthwhile! And while I'd rather be out walking in the woods and hunting for that exciting adventure to write about, sometimes those tough and not so fun jobs need to take priority.

I still have lots and lots of unfinished projects and things to do around the house. But I’m really hoping to squeeze in some more time for hunting turkeys this week. After-all, well, you just can’t do everything!