“Man oh man, Derek, I really do appreciate the help!”

“Well, you’re quite welcome, Clifford, anytime.”

And with a handshake we parted ways.

I enjoy working on projects that most people say can’t be done. If my wife challenges me on something, I tend to get bull headed and do it myself. If my son questions my ability to lift or move something, I tend to get it done with leverage and fulcrum. I do most of my odd projects by myself and I was about to get myself in a pickle when my friend Derek Townsend showed up out of the blue.

I have some lights in my parking lot that are about 18 feet high. I own a 16-foot fiberglass step ladder and one afternoon I was about to hoist this 16-foot step ladder in the air by myself and change the bulbs when Derek happened by. The problem with a 16- foot step ladder is they tend to get heavy on the top side.

I had plenty of room to block the base against a curb as I raised it into the air, but once it gets to a certain height it tends to place all the weight on the arms and can topple over on you with the slightest wrong movement. Derek was driving by when he saw the contraption I had arranged to hoist this thing. I had thrown a rope over the bracing in the tower and tied a rope to the top of the ladder.

The idea was to raise the ladder, tighten the rope and then re-group for another push while holding the ladder top in the air. I figured after several lifts I anticipated making the halfway point, which would cause the weight to be placed on the legs of the ladder instead of the weight on my outstretched arms.

When Derek showed up he, of course, helped me raise the ladder then he also climbed to the top and changed the bulbs for me, pigeon poop and all. (There were pigeons roosting in the tower.) All in all, I appreciated the help from a friend. His kind action, of course, saved my neck, but it also made me remember to pass it on to the next person I saw in trouble. Well, I got to pass it on this past weekend.

My nephew, Nathan, has always been the level-headed kid in the family, or at least I thought. Now when I say level headed I meant to say he showed the greatest sign of brains in the family amongst the guys. Now I know full well the other guys are smart and handle themselves very well, but Nathan showed it since he was a little kid. When the other guys were playing in the sand, Nathan was analyzing the grain content of the sand.

When the other guys were playing Army, Nathan was reading Napoleon’s great victories. When the kids played in the sprinkler, Nathan was designing a new sprinkler head. Do you get the picture?

Well, this past weekend while at a family function up at the ranch Nathan “borrowed” another family member’s truck. He had a young lady that he wanted to drive around the property and show her the lay of the land. Of course, we all know that most, not all but most, young ladies could care less about how a piece of land looks. Guys usually are more into looking at different trees, soil structure, ditches and creeks, but Nathan wanted to share the sights with her so off he went in a borrowed truck.

Don’t ask why, don’t try to figure this out, but Nathan drove across a field of black gumbo with standing water in a two wheel pickup. We call it “The Bottoms.” Of course, he didn’t get very far and he soon found out that black gumbo soil is as slick as melting butter off the top of a hot pancake. He didn’t sink down, but simply slid around on the surface of this black soil. This dirt is very unforgiving to offer any kind of traction and he went nowhere fast.

When I arrived and found my tractor missing, I soon learned it too was down in the bottom. When I learned that Nathan is the one who had made this journey into “The Bottom,” I was shocked. I would have believed any of the other guys would have done this, but not Nathan!

Of course, I could have told him the problem was his own, but I had to show kindness to him and soon we had the vehicle free and all I could do was shake my head and laugh inside because I too, on many occasions, have taken my vehicles in places they did not belong. The only difference is I did not attend a college located about 20 miles north of Brenham Texas like Nathan does. I think they have maroon colors…

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