Bulldozer Arrives-It's Play Time

Buddy and  one of  his toys

Pop by the low boy

The ink has hardly had time to dry on the new deed, and our neighbor, friend, and bulldozer operator, is ready to play. He is as tickled with us buying the woods, as we are.I guess work is slow for him about now, although I'm just guessing, so he wants to begin tinkering with our new woods. We plan to clear a bit of the new 17 acres, but I'm afraid with turning him loose in there,we may end up with more woods cleared, than what we had planned. Buddy is a good fellow, but he likes to do things his way.That could cause problems some places, but Pop won't say much to him. He just lets him be boss,for the most part.Pop says there are a few good trees in the woods. Some are good for lumber, some for posts, and some for firewood, but Buddy is not a timber man like Pop. All he sees is woods that he thinks needs clearing.

I love to smell the fresh turned dirt. It brings back memories of my Dad. That was his lifelong profession,too. He was a bulldozer owner and operator. He was well known in his day around the surrounding counties for his bulldozing work. It makes me proud when I hear folks say what a good operator he was. It has been many years since Dad worked as a bulldozer operator, but there are still several folks living who remember him.Dad has been gone since 2001, and he moved away from this area in 1972, because of his health. The dust from the many long hot days of bulldozing, had damaged his lungs, and he was forced to retire early.He left the state, and settled on an island in south Georgia,but retiring was plum out of the question for him. During the last few months of his life, when the cancer was killing him, I asked him to relax and not to work so hard.He was 83 at the time and still chipping away at some type of work every day.There on the last he was repairing lawn mowers for all of the locals. He even built up a good name doing that, for the short time he lived in this area,after moving back to our home state.I remember telling him"Dad, you need to slow down." and his reply was,"Sue, what am I suppose to do?Sit down with my hands folded in my lap, and wait to die."  I guess he was right. When you are doing something you enjoy, any pain you might have is lessened.At least, I find that to be true when it comes to my pain.

My Daddy on one of his bulldozers.