Author: Ketchum

The picture of the giraffe up a tree cracked me up!  I can definitely relate.  My whole family has a fear of or at least a  strong dislike of spiders.  I know it’s not rational, that humans are much bigger and smarter and can usually move faster, but spiders give me a chill down my spine.

When we were kids my sisters and I always called on our Dad to solve our spider problems.  We would yell to him and like our hero he would come to our rescue and kill the scary spider.  You know you can’t go to sleep with a spider in your room.  They watch you with those beady eyes and as soon as the light goes off they start slowly inching along on those hairy legs right toward you. 

When my daughters were young they developed a “bug alarm”, theirs was a lot more sensitive then mine, they hate spiders, bugs, ants, pretty much every creepy, crawly!  Unfortunately, as the Mom, I was the one that had to come to the rescue and kill the spiders.  I can tell you, my bravery was all an act to keep the girls calm, I was about in a sweat every time I had to kill a spider.  I usually need a shoe to squash them, no grabbing with a tissue for me.

My daughters are both adults and even now if they see a spider the “bug alarm” goes off and they yell for me.  I can tell by the panic in their voice why they are calling me, I give them a little grief and tell them to man up, but then I go kill the spider and I still hate it.

My sister has retained her fear of spiders.  She uses the vacuum cleaner, she can have the long extension on the vacuum hose and be nearly across the room to get the spider!

So like the giraffe, we’re keeping our distance from spiders!

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 I started to brush hog the back pasture about two weeks ago and noticed the big, old maple that I had rescued from my uncle’s chain saw a few years ago had finally died. It was not the healthiest thing at the time, but I loved it’s shape and how it stood above all the other trees around it. Positioned on the East side of the pasture, the silhouette of it’s canopy was beautiful and majestic against an early morning sky.

 After eight to ten passes by the old tree with the brush hog, satisfied that I let the old tree finish out it’s life on it’s own, it was now time to harvest the firewood. As I rode back and forth past the tree I studied it on each pass trying to decide how best to deal with it. Part of it’s allure for me in the past, is now a potential lethal hazard. The once beautiful, bifurcated canopy could easily become a “widow maker”. To further complicate matters, an old stone wall was built around the base making good footing difficult if a hasty retreat should be necessary in the felling process. Unwittingly, I must have assigned the felling task to my automatic success mechanism because I spent a great deal of time over the next two weeks thinking about this conundrum. I even think I dreamt about it one night. 

This Saturday, as I was heading over to finish brush hogging the pasture, I was also eager to study that big maple and finalize my plan of action. As I approached the field I immediately started looking for the tree. I don’t see it… Must not be in view yet… No, it should be right there…. About this time I notice a swath cut in the lower lying tree line… The big old tree had fallen in the wind last weekend. Problem solved!

As a child I spent a great deal of time on my father’s heels. So much so, that at my father’s funeral, nearly 13 years ago, I introduced my younger brother (by 14 months), Eric, to a long time friend of my father and the conversation went something like this: Me: “This is my brother, Eric. Friend: “You’ve got a brother? Well, that’s news to me!” (Yup, we’ve had him for 34 years.) No matter where my father was going, I wanted to go with him…the shop, the firehouse, the wood lot, wherever. He was always doing something interesting. I am sure, at times, he got sick of having me in tow. At any rate, I am what I am today, largely because of my father!

 After my father’s death, every once in a while something would happen around the shop that would make me think that he was here helping me. For example, one winter I lost a lynch pin out in the snow. That spring when I thought of it, it was as if someone was tapping me on the shoulder and saying look down….sure enough there it was! Dad was helping. That brings me back to the tree. I can’t help but think that Dad took the tree down for me! To help me out and keep me safe! Whether that kind of stuff does or does not occur is truly unknown, but it is fun for me to see what adventure he will join me on next! “What are you going to do now, Dad?”

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     My daughter, Kate, is living in a small town in northern New York State.  There are several Amish Farms in her community.  The other day she wanted a cucumber, so she hopped in her car and stopped at an Amish Farm Stand.  The gentleman told her they were out of cucumbers and to try the stand down the road.  

     At the next stand there were no cucumbers on display.  My daughter asked the young Amish girl if she had any cucumbers.  She said no, they were out and asked how many did she need.  Kate said she only wanted one.  The Amish girl asked what size did she need, just one for slicing?  Yes, that’s all Kate wanted.  So the girl said, “I’ll run over to the garden and get you one.”  She skipped across the road and came back with a freshly picked cucumber.  The total for the cucumber and a fresh bulb of garlic was 50 cents!  The young girl started to put the cucmber and garlic in a bag, my daughter said she didn’t need a bag , “well, it’s wet” was the reply.  She didn’t want Kate to get her car wet.

    The customer service provided by this young woman was amazing.  She was happy to make a special trip to get what her customer wanted, to smile and still charge the standard price.  How refreshing to be treated with such friendly service.  Of course, this is my daughter’s favorite Farm Stand and her “go to” spot for fresh produce. 

    I’m sure we all can learn a lesson from the Amish Farm Stand,  treat our customers with respect, meet or exceed their expectations and smile!  They’ll be back!

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