When do the wonderful men in our area have the most fun? When they are working on a project together. Some are ranchers, working together to drive cattle from one feeding area to another, or loading the animals to transport them to market. They also work together at branding time, and the women join in by supplying meals for them.
What about the guys in the neighborhood who are not ranchers? When we first moved from the city to our rural location, we were all 'displaced' city slickers and had to learn to do rural stuff… building fences, plowing snow, mowing weeds on the sides of our roads. They rode dirt bikes together along the river and up and down the hills, stopping occasionally to e catch a trout in the 'Blue-ribbon Bow River. In the winter, the snowmobiles were well-used. Dads and kids had a lot of fun together, but the kids are all grown up now, and busy with their own families. Few of those kids live in the neighborhood, a few are in the city, and many live in a different city, a different province, and even a different country. But there are still wonderful memories!
We have a wacky workplace in our yard. Ed built his shop originally to store his telephone collection, and then it became the shop where he refurbished a couple of vintage tractors. There was a parade of guys, from the neighborhood and from the city who would arrive on the weekends to see how the work was progressing. Sometimes giving unsolicited suggestions and even offering some "elbow grease" that was much appreciated by my husband.
The 'wacky workplace' has been a center of activity this summer, and is still a busy place. A number of friends had fewer work days due to health issues, early retirement, and other circumstances, and they came to Ed's shop to chat, drink coffee and non-alcoholic beer, tell stories and stay for lunch if they were invited. The work projects in the shop included learning to refurbishing vintage telephones, repair our boarder's vehicle, and talk politics. I often heard laughter coming from the shop, and later my husband would tell me about "SOME" of the conversations. They were having a lot of fun, even when they were working.
The gang of these 'wacky guys' include a train engineer who is on medical leave, a friend in the community who works for the power company, mostly on the night shift, a Jewish friend who reminds me that since I met him, I now know two Jewish carpenters, and a doctor from South America who is not able to practice his profession in Canada. I am so happy to have them at our table for lunch, spiced with laughter, some serious talk, and hugs of thanks for the cook.
They keep life interesting!
Tags: Friends Work Fun Neighbors
