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There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
by Shel Silverstein
The steel mill sky is alive.
The fire breaks white and zigzag
shot on a gun-metal gloaming.
Man is a long time coming.
Man will yet win.
Brother may yet line up with brother:
This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.
There are men who can’t be bought.
The fireborn are at home in fire.
The stars make no noise,
You can’t hinder the wind from blowing.
Time is a great teacher.
Who can live without hope?
In the darkness with a great bundle of grief
the people march.
In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people
march:
“Where to? what next?”
— Carl Sandberg
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What a wonderful life that guy has had.
My advice? Choose the right parents, kids.
Got a fence job coming up-on a hill no less-with about 3 dozen fence pole holes I’ll be digging out…by hand. One of those augers sure would be nice
If you ever really want to get something done, hitch a “cat” to it.
Scott Wadsworth is a wordsmith. A friends wife who has no interest in tools watches these videos with him and is fascinated.
I agree, Joe. Scott*, as a guy who has worked with his hands all his life, has a substantial talent for crafting his words on video.
* I refer to the Essential Craftsman as “Scott” as though he and I were friends. As I do with our host here, I check the internets at least daily to see if my “internet-friend” has had something new to say today. However the truth of the matter is that whatever friendship relationship we share is merely electronic and very distant, and therefore something less than a true friendship. But were I ever to meet Scott (or Gerard, who introduced me to Scott), I’d like to think that we’d enjoy each other’s company and could share a coffee, soda pop, or beer, along with a laugh or two.
MM, you can always rent one. If you plan out all your holes, you should easily be able to knock out 36 in a day, and that’s a lot of effort saved.
I had a boss once that wanted me to dig a bunch of fence post holes by hand. The problem was, the property had a huge amount of gravel in the soil, so every hole was a huge chore. I got him out there and had him start the first hole while I moved the posts near where the holes would be. He was cussin’ and bitching every time he hit a rock.
Then I brought out the gas powered hole digger. It takes two to hold it properly, but the hole is done in 30 seconds. He was amazed, and then I told him I had just had the rental place bill it to him.
Mr. V.: Been trying to talk Geoff C. into renting a mini skid steer to tackle that mound in the backyard. Maybe this year I’ll prevail. Would LOVE to operate it and get that job done this summer.