Help And Smiles

Work is caught up and actually ahead of schedule. Some planting is done already and all the fields are ready to plant. If the weather stays as decent as it's been, I will have about three weeks to spend fishing instead of only one before it's hay making season. That fact makes me the happiest little boy you can imagine.

It was a little rainy over the weekend so my son and I built and installed three new windows in the chicken coop. I didn't have time to put them in last year when I built it and just boarded them shut over winter.

We also made and installed two gates in the dogs three quarter acre yard. They sure seem to enjoy being able to have room to run and stretch their legs without being tied to chains or being yelled at for running to far or to get out of things they shouldn't be into.

The way their fences run they can follow us almost everywhere they were allowed to before. And we still have plenty of lawn left for ourselves. Way to much when it comes time to mow... That alone is a full day chore here!

But with the weather so nice and so much going on, my planning capabilities have been shot to heck. While building the windows Saturday there were things we still had to make a second trip back to the building supply store for. Then on Sunday when we built the gates I forgot to pick up latches to keep the gates shut. So there was one more wasted trip.

That wouldn't be so bad, but it's a twenty eight mile round trip and with the price of gas being as ridiculous as it is right now it sure cuts into the pocket.

But those two nagging chores are finished and I'm still on my way to having those three weeks of rest and relaxation!

It's been wake up and put in four hours by nine AM, then a two to three hour break waiting for the morning dampness to dry off and then back to work in the fields until dark or later. I am tired and looking forward to a break.

Saturday when we went for some groceries in the morning and picked up the lumber and most of the hardware for the windows, there was an older gentleman in front of us at the grocery check out. Guess he is down on his luck because he was using one of those food cards to buy his groceries.

He was watching the price run up on the monitor and stopped the check out lady just before she had all his groceries rang up. Seems he was short and couldn't quite get them all.

I quickly did a mental scan of what he had left and just as the checkout lady was about to move them aside, I stopped her and told her to add them to what I was getting and let him take them along.

You could have knocked her over with a little breath of wind. But the smile on the guys face was priceless! He couldn't seem to thank me enough and I was getting a little embarrassed because he was loud enough to let almost everyone hear.

So for about $28.00 I managed to put a warm caring feeling in the hearts of quite a few people.

But isn't that one of the greatest things we can do with our lives? Helping others who need and putting warmth into the lives and hearts of others.

Putting smiles on the faces of anyone we run into and can!