23 June 2007

There's just something about a capable man

Yesterday, Dennis finished putting up the poles for a chain link fence in the parsonage yard. He was going to stretch the chain link today, but since it's raining, he'll be getting that tomorrow.
Whenever Dennis launches into a project like this, I once again admire his abilities to do all things mechanical. And I mean-- ALL things. I don't think Dennis has ever met anything he can't do. Everyonceinawhile, he has to stop and think before proceeding, but most of the time, he just understands how things need to be done. And he understands every step that needs to be taken to get to the point of completion so that the job is done correctly. And he does it. Or, if he takes a shortcut, he takes it knowing fully the impact that it will have on the finished product.
I'm not sure where he gets this brilliance. He comes from generations of farmers and laborers. They built their own homes and wired their own electrics and fixed their own cars and tractors and combines and invented solutions to problems if the solution hadn't been invented yet.
This kind of thinking is completely impressive to me. My dad is a financial planner. His father, my Gramps, was the president of the bank. They do a different kind of processing in their daily lives. Gramps is pretty good at fixing and building and such, but it doesn't just roll off of him like it does Dennis. Dennis just knows. And he does. And whenever I see that, I just kind of swoon. Because there's just something about a capable man, y'know?

1 comment:

Cara said...

Hi April :) I totally relate! I'm amazed at how my hubby can just know how to do things also. Like stretch a fence (he used a come-along to do ours)- I never would have even known that you were supposed to stretch it! And I have no idea how I'd even get the posts in there in the first place. I love your blog :)
Cara