Dad And Some Ditch-Digging Philosophy

I always miss my Dad just a little bit more than usual on Father's Day. The picture below is kinda a rarity because he was not a "smiling" person. We are opening Christmas presents and he must really like the present he received.

This picture of Dad in his recliner is so "him". Light blue twill pants, dark green twill shirt and work boots with white socks (he never wore colored socks.) I looked in the picture for his radio...I know it's there somewhere. I'm sure after the presents were all unwrapped and things settled down, he had it in his lap, searching for a football game. His evening pastime was listening to sports - basketball, baseball and football.

In spite of all the injuries he suffered throughout his life, he was the hardest working man I knew. I can't hold a candle to his tenacity but he did teach me a few things about working...

When a friend of mine, Aaron Wheeler, saw the picture below, he commented to me how straight and perfectly squared the ditch was that I was laying the railroad ties in.  I'm putting in a foundation for a portable carport and ditch-digging came with the job.

Because of Aaron's comment, I got to thinking about what Dad taught me about ditch-digging and how it applies to life. Here are a few thoughts.

Get the right tools for the job - A good sharp pick and a long-handled sharp-point shovel will do just fine. A few minutes getting the tools at hand for a task, can save you hours in the long run.

Keep the dirt piled close to the ditch - Don't scatter your "dirt" (or anybody else's for that matter)  all over God's Creation! Keep it piled close where it's easier to shovel it back in.

Make the corners of the ditch "sharp and clean" - Cleaning out the corner of the ditch may not be necessary... But some things you do in life are not really necessary... they just look nice.