This may seem more like a Labor Day than a Memorial Day post, but read through to the end.
Ever thought about the expression “I have to go to work.” What I mean is whether you understand this expression in a positive or negative way.
This morning, my wife and I cut up and stacked the wood from a fallen tree. It is Memorial Day and somehow the task reminded me of my dad. I had to help with this kind of work when I was a kid. My brothers and I would go into the grove with dad to “clean things up”. I regarded the task as work – not the kind that is fun. Mostly we had to haul the branches and chunks of wood dad cut to a central location. The only fun part I remember involved those situations in which we got to throw some fuel oil on the pile and light it.
Cutting the tree up this morning was fun. I got to run the saw and the tree fell on my land. When it dries, I may even get to burn the wood. Same task, very different experience. Perhaps it is the element of control or making the decision to perform a task that differentiates one type of work from the other.
There is a connection between the two tree cutting experiences. The land I own that allows me to cut up wood was bought with money from the land on which dad and the kids used to cut wood. I remember the connection.
