tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post2073658598013777924..comments2024-03-23T05:42:07.516-04:00Comments on The Deliberate Agrarian: Working BoysHerrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-37041267570241087222008-09-20T19:51:00.000-04:002008-09-20T19:51:00.000-04:00The fall of the year and getting in the final bits...The fall of the year and getting in the final bits of the firewood on crisp late fall days after the harvest was complete - what memories you have brought back.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-25608678482919712232008-09-20T00:51:00.000-04:002008-09-20T00:51:00.000-04:00Where I grew up very few kids had these kinds of v...Where I grew up very few kids had these kinds of values instilled in them. All there was to do was to get in trouble. For two of my childhood friends getting in trouble was their favorite pass time. With nothing productive to do kids often turn to things like drugs, alcohol, gangs and immoral behavior. <BR/><BR/>It’s good to teach children from an early age that life isn’t a free ride. So many young people today think they’re entitled to easy street. Then they become angry and destructive when they find out it isn’t that way.RLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07192953682155468376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-90161433986621078192008-09-19T22:13:00.000-04:002008-09-19T22:13:00.000-04:00That ability to work hard will stand your boys in ...That ability to work hard will stand your boys in good stead their whole lives. Young people today take to physical labor like the ass to the harp. They can't even wash dishes or clothes without help.<BR/><BR/>You've done them a real favor and built their character. Good job.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-9323455363543289902008-09-19T13:35:00.000-04:002008-09-19T13:35:00.000-04:00Herrick,Your post brought back great memories of t...Herrick,<BR/>Your post brought back great memories of trips with my Dad to the forests of the northwest to cut wood to heat our home. We would cut it into 8' lengths in the woods (mostly small stuff)and carry it to the truck. It was also my job to cut the wood to stove length when we got home. I did it with a 6' long one man saw. One day a new neighbor moved in across the street and he saw me day after day putting logs on a sawbuck and sawing them up one after the other. He came over and asked me how old I was. I told him I was 13. He asked me how much my dad paid for all this work. I told him my dad didn't payme any money but he did give me these.....then I pulled up my shirt sleeve and showed him my well developed arm muscles and said not many boys my age have these. He then said that whenever I wanted to earn some money to just come over and ask. so for the next five years I earned $2 an hour doing hard work for the neighbor. He was impressed by a young man with a work ethic. I still remember the respect WORKING HARD earned my at that time and it continues to motivate me today.<BR/><BR/>The last two years my son who is now 5 has been learning to do his part for the family as well. We are teaching him that everyone in a family can contribute something no matter their age. Next year he will be in charge of our pastured poultry as his contribution. I am looking forward to seeing him rise above his peers on the wings of hard work and a solid work ethic.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the memories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-72724800710855389282008-09-19T09:36:00.000-04:002008-09-19T09:36:00.000-04:00$45 a cord!!! That's fantastic, Herrick. Our fire...$45 a cord!!! That's fantastic, Herrick. Our firewood, split and delivered is running about $250 per cord in New England. We have 10 acres of woods and DH and oldest son cut the trees and then the whole crew has to drag them from the woods down to the woodpile. For some reason, everyone wants an ox, or draft horse. :)Tovahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09530003960476543808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-27505992282953081922008-09-18T22:48:00.000-04:002008-09-18T22:48:00.000-04:00there was a boy who was in trouble and had to go t...there was a boy who was in trouble and had to go to foster care. The foster father was an older man with grown kids. He operated a sheep farm in Montana. The boy had chores on the farm. One of the first chores the boy had to learn was to clear a type of thorny bush from the sheep pasture. If the bush wasn't cleared out, it would tangle in the sheep wool. This would make the wool less valuable. This was a tedious hand tool job and was never ending. Every time the boy stayed out late, or got into trouble, the patch would need to be cleaned out again. Years went by, the boy grew and matured into a fine boy and went off to college. When he came home from college for break, he found a new tractor in the barn and no thorn bushes in the field. The boy asked the foster dad, "what's with the tractor?". The dad replied, "I needed it to get rid of the thorn bushes.". The boy said, astonished "you mean I pulled up those bushes by hand all those years when we could have just cleared them with a tractor??". The dad smiled and said, "yes, but you needed those bushes more than I needed a tractor. Those bushes taught you that hard work has reward, foolish choices have consequences and late nights make for early mornings. I could have fought with you, or talked till I was blue in the face. But I figured those bushes and a short hoe could do it better than me,"<BR/><BR/>This story is supposedly true. I know my dad sure raised me the same way and most of the time I was too busy to get into trouble!!Ralph&K.C. Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18035514877851951673noreply@blogger.com