Off topic: Copper top neighbor kid stops by...

I had the day to myself, so I cooked some healthy and peppery chili.

For starters, the door bell rings and guess who is at my door? It"s the copper-top kid and he"s asking if"n I wanted the dead elm I had cut up. (He knows I do not have a wood stove). He saw the small stack from the bus window.

He got a chuckle that I"m doing the chili "my way", seeing as the keeper-of-the-keys is out of town.

So, we go on down the hill, and I have fresh gas in the saw, and we had re-cut some elm that would have been too big for their woodstove.

He said he had split all the other wood from a weekend or two ago. Good for him! I asked if he sorted the dead from the green, he said he had.

I wish it wouldn"t have rained, I was actually enjoying the cutting, picking up, and the un-rehearsed conversations that occur along he way.

We did use an old tractor an trailer; he"s decent at running that equipment, parking, clutch, trailering, etc. I"d say more in detail, but I"d rather say why I didn"t include a detail, rather than apologizing for too much being said.

He"s a good kid. I like the idea of him just stopping on by.

The chili tasted even better after simmering on the stove while we were out. He said no thanks if I made it hot. I didn"t know I"d have company.

D.

Keep investing in his life

Thanks for taking the time and having an interest in his life. You never know when the opportunity to make a difference may come.

Great to hear how you have invested in a new young friend . Having a young man interested in any kind of work related projects is unusual nowdays . I can't get any of the young guys or any unemployed younger guys to come & help me out . Man I cherished chances to help older people when I was young (still do) . Older people can be great teachers of how to do various projects . I had hoped my Grandson would show some interests in learning how to do jobs , but if it isn't play or he can't benefit with material things , he's not interested . He can't even call or stop by to check on me unless he wants my truck or trailer or one of my guns .I finally had to play the part of a mean old Grampa by saying NO . So keep mentoring the Lad . God bless, Ken

Must be something about the copper topped ones. I got a couple of them just down the road. SWMBO and I were moving some rocks at the creek out front and they were passing by on a 4 wheeler. Stopped to help. One's about 14 and ones about 12 or 13 years old. Nice kids! I saw them shoveling snow from their LONG driveway so the tractor blade took care of that for them.

We had a bad storm that knocked out all the power for a week here last summer. I saw them helping their father and (great?) grandfather cut a dead oak tree at a church near by.

They had a wore out WalMart chain saw with a dull chain, a wood maul and some wedges.... I loaded my 20" saw in my tractor bucket and coupled the log splitter to the wood rack on the back. Those boys work. They *really* seem to enjoy having some tools to work with!

The older of the two could take probably my tractor apart and reassemble it and would likely remember every wrench size needed for every part....gotta cultivate that kind of talent!

+1

Good for you Dennis,

About 50 years ago, I was one of those "Copper-topped" kids, except that I have brown hair.

A man named Chink Nelson in Shalersville, Ohio, took me under his wing and made a life-long change in my life. I thanked him often, but not often enough.

Tom in TN

You never know how you influence kids. My nephew was diagnosed LD in school, even held baqck a grade which doesn't happen much anymore. I never lost faith in him through many tries to find his way. He called today--he was awarded a Master Teacher certificate by the state, and finishes his Masters degree next month. I couldn't be prouder fo him.

Sounds like a real nice kid. Kids in my own family don't want to learn anything ,try to weld or sandblast,work on bikes, or anything then my friends kid [who is a weldor ] always says to me if you ever need a hand working on any bikes or just moving stuff around give me a call. He is such a nice kid I gave him a South Bend lathe someone offered to me. He is not lazy either ,he dug out a huge bicycle track back in the woods that you would not believe the size of or the labor involved. Keep mentoring your young friend ,guys like you are hard to come by and the kid seems to appreciate you.

I've been following your posts on this young man Dennis.
Sounds like a great kid and a great relationship.
This particular time he wanted something. (wood for heat)
The fact that he is comfortable enough to ask is a good thing!
From the sounds of it, he would have accepted a "no"
answer if that were the case.
I don't think you need any advice on how to do this.
It sounds like you have it down pat!
Please keep up the good work, and keep us informed.
I enjoy hearing a little good news about the younger generations.

GOOD JOB Dennis

We were with the folks yesterday and at coffee after church a 10/11 year old boy asked them if he could carry their coffee to the table.
After a while, I asked the folks (90 years old) about him and they said HE had kinda adopted them!