Monday, June 20, 2011

Country Wisdom. Horse sense?

Maybe I'm wrong, there always needs to be a first time, but maybe I'm right, I think country people may not be smarter than city people, but they are a hell of a lot wiser. Yes, I'm picking a fight, as long as it's a fair fight. If you want to tell a story about wisdom that you've seen, it's okay, but you have to tell us about it. It's okay to point out why you think city people might be wiser if you want, I'm all ears, as they say. What made me think of this is my cousin Oregon explaining why somebody only found broken dishes in the dump sight. It just seemed reasonable to him that "I figure they only threw out the broken china." Now to a country person, that just makes plain old ordinary horse sense.

Granted, it’s been a while, but when I worked in the woods, sometimes we were so anxious to get to work on time that we would leave to work without enough gas to get home. When you work on a crew, you had to be to work on time so as not to hold other people up. There was a saying on our crew that, "If you show up to work on time, you are already late". It was imperative that you be to work, before starting time. Then we were stuck with figuring out how to get home. A lot of times we would mix all of the chain saw gas, a little bit of diesel, and siphon the gas out of the Cat starting engines to get home. Now that's what I call "wisdom". Then, the next morning we had to be to work early enough to replace all the fuel before starting time.

Now, Just to show you how wise I really am, I already know what you're thinkin'... You're thinkin' that a city person would have been smart enough to put gas in his tank. That's probably true, but, that's where the ol' country wisdom really kicks in. The city guy would have been smart enough to get gas in his tank, he would have apologized to his girlfriend, left her standin’ on the dance floor with her motor already runnin', and he would have gone to the gas station to get gas for morning, then he would have gone home and got a good nights sleep.

To me that's just plain stupid. When I worked in the woods, I would hang out on the dance floor, and dance my girl around the pool table until she wanted to go home. My wisdom tells me that you already know where this story goin’ from here, so I’ll spare a few details. The short version is I would already be awake (still) when it was time to go to work in the morning. I already knew that I had enough gas to get to work, so I would figure how to work out the details on how to get home… later. One option would be to ride with somebody else, but that would put a person on somebody else’s schedule. The number one rule of a country person is “never let anybody else run your schedule”.

I always got to work on time when I worked on a crew. I’ve seen people that thought that they could show up late and get away with it. The bull-buck didn’t even have to fire him. The crew would run him off. It’s a pretty humiliating thing to be run off by a logging crew. You would have to be a pretty valuable employee with a darn good excuse to get by without being run off for being late. A logging crew’s language can melt the bark off trees. There is no word that doesn’t get used. The logger language includes good hearted racism, sexism, homophobia, hog swill, and then really rough language. I know the city folks would say that some of that kind of cussin’ goes too far. The loggers liked criticism, when that happened, it was an opportunity to fight. Don’t get me wrong, the reason that I say that their cussin’ was “good hearted” is that they would fight FOR anybody if somebody was being unfair to them, no matter what race, creed, color, or sex. To quote a logger friend of mine, for an example. “My friends call me “Fat Boy” but you shouldn’t try it.” It was kind of a cliquish group. You were either IN or OUT, but you got a fair chance.

Wisdom: When I was young and dumb. I always thought that I could work hard enough to impress the old guys. In the winter time, a lot of the guys that worked in the woods would make redwood split-stuff, like rails, boards and posts. You always stacked the work as you made it. At the end of the day, you tallied your work. No matter how hard I worked, the old guys would always beat me. The kicker is, they didn’t work that hard.

One of the old timers said; “You know what your problem is Ernie? You’re dumb”. Now, you city-slickers would probably be insulted if somebody said that to you. But in the woods, you know that an Old-timer is about to spill his beans. My reply was: "You wouldn’t say something like that unless you intended to prove it, what makes you think that I’m ‘Dumb‘- asshole.” That’s woods talk. It’s strategy to get the old timer to spill his guts. By calling him “asshole” he knows that I respected him a lot, because I wouldn’t call him "asshole" unless I respected him. Because, he would kick my butt if he even half-way thought I was serious. So, then he knew that I  respect him, and that I had just challenged him to “Put-up, or shut up”. He goes on to say. "You just gotta’ be smarter than a board to make more rails.” He went on to show me how to "push my split". When splitting boards into 2x2 rails, the work always had to be divided evenly to get the rail to split down the middle. If the split is not exactly divided in the middle it will run out to the weak, or narrow side. To split a six inch board into 2x2 rails works out that you have one narrow side. One 2" side and one 4" side. He showed me how to "fool a board into thinking it was a two by eight". You stick the board into the crotch of a tree and bend the board to the fat side while pulling the 2'x2' off the narrow side. To steer the slit you just lean heavier onto the board and the split will follow the pressure. It's easier to show you than explain it, but it works. You can steer perfect splits every time. Before that, I was loosing a 2" inch rail on every odd size split, because it would run out on me and be ruined. I had to throw it on the burn pile.

The Old-Timer explained to me that he didn't give a damn that I wasn't making better money. He said that he was tired of watching me ruin good redwood. Some people are hard to read, but I think that he liked me. It seems that I've learned everything that I know the hard way, but I had a lot of good people break the trail for me. I did notice that they still out-split me. I finally figured out that they could "read a log" and tell how good it was going to split before they ever chose it. They explained to me that some things you just have to know. That there is no way that you can be smart enough to know a good log, that's wisdom that comes with experience.

I've run into more country wisdom than most people because I've been around a lot of the wise Old-Timers. I can almost always coax a story or two out of them because I listen to everything that they have to say. That's a little of MY wisdom.

I'm open to any stories that you might have about city or country wisdom. This is your chance to defend your honor.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

“Partisanship is our great curse. We too readily assume that everything has two sides and that it is our duty to be on one or the other.” -- James Harvey Robinson

Robinson was referring primarily to politics and economics. Not to be outdone, you've added to the list by categorizing wisdom based on a person's geographic environment. Nice.
But why start with the wise? Why not speculate instead whether a moron from Eureka is any dumber than a moron from Redway? Then you can overlap their similarities instead of their differences.
I remember reading a child's book to my son entitled "The City Mouse and The Country Mouse". Pick up a copy and educate yourself, Ernie.

Anonymous said...

Country Wisdom? Looks like old Branscomb has come up with a new brand name for the latest line of shitty whiskey he wants to sell.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Robinson was right, but he was speaking to the fact that we are so easily divided that we take our eye of the real goal of good government.

There has been two sides to everything always. There has been the Yin and Yang, the male and the female, The Giants and the Dodgers, as far back as time itself. Life itself is a competition, and sadly it is survival of the fittest. That is why baby lions practice fighting from the day that they are born. The lion that lays down with the lamb starves to death.

All fruit comes from the "two sides". Life itself comes from the game played between the male and the female. Chess has two sides. There is also the famous sides that the P.C. generation wants to avoid, the "win" and the "loose" side.

Little Johnnie is no longer allowed to be a loser. But, there is also the Vince Lombardi quote: "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". It is no surprise that he was the favorite coach of many sports fans. How can you know the joy of winning without first suffering the agony of defeat?

As “politically correct” as you would like to seem, your zeal for competition is peeking around the corner at us. Proof of that is that you were the first to point out that my silly little game of “city folk verses Country folk” is some how vicious and not simply a game. You have chosen the side that “everybody is a winner,” and I’m a fool for mentioning otherwise, because you don’t want little Johnny to get his feelings hurt. You have also joined the side that says you will remain anonymous. That way you have no real skin in the game and no matter what you say, you can’t lose, because nobody knows who you are. You are on the “Anonymous vs., Ernie” side, whether you want to admit it or not. Thank you for choosing a “side”. I already know that you are hoping to win. (country wisdom)

Anonymous said...

I like the 8:46 post,,,a lot.

Oregon

Ernie Branscomb said...

The one thing that I failed to mention is that I have suffered the agony of defete more than my share.

charlie two crows said...

Ernie, You continue to write like a troubled poet. We only see cracks in your life,and the light that does shine through is hard for us to read. I continue to ponder the answer,or more the question you search for. I hope what you find is enough.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Charlie.
It seems that I get the poetry. Now all I need to get is the rhyme and the reason.

Shakespeare said it best; “All the world is a stage and we are but players”. Even on the stage of life we are but players. Each on their own separate path, each with their own separate goals. How well that you play the game is where the joy of life is derived.

I don’t understand the people that want to hide in their shells and not come out to play. You can’t draw a line around yourself like Les Nessman’s office and pretend that the world doesn’t exist. Pretty soon somebody is going to come around and tell you that your line doesn’t count, and it’s not really a barrier at all. It just doesn’t work that easily.

Somebody has to tell the emperor that he has no clothes. Maybe that’s me. All that glitters is not Gold, but as you well know… Some is. I pan for gold in life.

charlie two crows said...

Shakespeare also said we start dieing the minute we are born. I hope you find solice in your search for life's gold. The Mcclean song says, Their not listening still, Perhaps they never will. We only have a short time here. I hope yours is peaceful.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Thanks Charlie

Wisdom like yours is one of the nuggets that I pan for.

Are you city folk or country folk?

spyrock said...

i just spent 4 days with a bunch of ceos, cfos, hrs, and every other initial from the corporate world. these people don't always ask me what i do anymore, but most of them know from shaking my hand that i've worked all my life. when it was my turn to speak, i talked about the pattons from blocksburg and some of the other stories i post on ernies blog. they all loved what i had to say basically because it was real or at least a little bit real. i don't think they hear much truth in their world. if they are pulling my leg by being nice to me well that's ok too. but i bet there are a lot of people out there these days that wish they could have been a logger and work in the forest back in the day.

charlie two crows said...

Ernie, City wisdom is like KENO, Hot air blow in your balls around. A rich man told me; Money not earned, Is money easily spent. Country or city? A old logger taught me how to take a bath with a ban dana and a canteen. Country or city? The same rich man spent a winter as a kid in montana had to eat spuds for 5 months. But he taught me how to trade futures and retire at 50.country and city. Now I live most of the year in the desert in a tent while prospecting, and manage my portfolio by sat phone. Ernie, I guess I'm a little of both. PS, Did an employee show up late out of gas? Is that what started this thing?

Ernie Branscomb said...

"Did an employee show up late out of gas? Is that what started this thing?"
Nope, the fact that my country boy cousin knew, without even thinking about, it that the reason that people only find broken dishes in the dump is because people only throw out broken dishes.

It just struck he that that was horse sense and most of the country people have it. I was hoping to see some sign that city people have common sense also.

Joe Blow said...

"All that glitters is not Gold, but as you well know… Some is. I pan for gold in life."

Fools gold, buddy.

Robin Shelley said...

Spy, I never knew a logger one who worked in the "forest". Every logger I ever knew worked in "the woods". Country & city. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Robin, you are gold.

Oregon

Anonymous said...

when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Romans 1:20-22

spyrock said...

thanks robin, i stand corrected. good to know the difference.

Robin Shelley said...

Bless your heart, 10:54. (That's another "country" saying.)

two crows said...

10:54 is sounding a lot like Al Sharpton?

Ernie Branscomb said...

Two Crows
“Al” is a frequent contributor to this blog.

Robin
Remember back when the watersheds used to be called canyons? And, a timber harvest plan used to be called a “show” or a “side”.

If we started using the old terminology today, most people would be as confused as if we were speaking Pig-Latin.

Robin Shelley said...

I do, Ernie, & did anybody really describe themselves as "a logger"... except for maybe the owner? (: I never knew a lumberjack or a woodsman, either.

spyrock said...

as some of you know, i'm a pond tender. i breed and raise my own fish [koi] and different colors of water lilys going on 35 years now.
one of the people i met last week was ann linnea who gave me a book called keeper of the trees. one of the stories in ann's book was about merve wilkinson who at 98 calls himself a woodlot owner. he likened his woodlot to a tree garden that he harvested every 5 years. he sells about 340,000 board feet to local lumber mills at that time. a timber cruiser estimated that his lot contained 1.5 million board feet when he bought it in 1938. in 50 years he extracted 1.4 million board feet. effectively he cut the whole thing down yet there it still stands.
"i've cut some trees that were 1600 years old but only because they were going to die. i do selective, sustainable logging. i have learned to never high-grade [take the biggest and the best] for any reason-- because big healthy trees produce the best seed. a forest only grows as tall as the most viable growing tree." sorry about using the f word again

Robin Shelley said...

Would that be Merve Wilkinson from Wildwood Tree Farm in Canada? He's right, you know. Too bad the greedy, corporate, cut & run bas#@%&s who butchered the forests (!) & wrecked the timber industry didn't follow his example. Quick buck, no sustainability. Gave us all a bad name.

spyrock said...

yes, he's the same guy. vancouver island. looks like i will be tending 20 acres of trees in retirement so it was good to get a few pointers.

charlie two crows said...

Yesterday I saw Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. In the interview mike said there were 580,000 jobs available in america that can't be filled. These are common sense jobs that no one knows how to do anymore. Mike said society has re classed this work as less than a job. The use of a shovel isn't even taught anymore. But these are real jobs with real pay. I think its time we teach young men and women about a different type of four year degree its called apprenticeship. Its time to mentor manual labor. Some country WISDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ernie Branscomb said...

A contractor's license is equal to a four year college degree.

I worked for a contractor in my youth that said “if you can't past a contractor license test without taking a ‘cheater course’ you don't deserve one.” So, after I gained my four years in a supervisory position, I bought the code books and the books on Contractor law. I studied the books hard and learned what they had in them. I signed up and passed the test cold without the cheater course.

I would recommend to anyone that is going to take the contractors test to NOT follow my former bosses advice, get a cheater course and study it, because the state test has questions in it with NO clear answers. Unless you know what they want the answer to be, you stand very little chance of answering it correctly. I barely passed my test, it was easy to see that the cheater course companies had a hand in developing the test. I’m really not sure about today’s test, but 30 years ago the corruption was obvious.

spyrock said...

what happened to the small american farmer is going to be repeated up in your area soon. i worked on a peach orchard back in the 60's during the bracero program. that's when they actually limited the number of farm workers that mexico sent up here. the rest of the farm workers were white. every other kind of race really. because that's who the small farmers were. dutch, portuguese, japanese, etc. etc. the big corps like del monte put the small farmer out of business by bringing cheap labor up from mexico. there were plenty of white people out in the fields before that. i was one of them. every summer before and after i was going to college. thats where the money went. after a while, these corps would not hire white people, just mexican nationals, the more illegal the better because there was no enforcement of the law. the same thing happened to the cannerys. now even the unions are run by mexican nationals who don't have a clue as to what contract law is. so the corps are in control. thing is. these people can't run computers and as everything is going high tech, they are hiring white people again. its becoming just like the old days at the cannery. of course, the fields are a different story. the moral of the story is, why subsidize the big corporations with cheap labor and put the small organic farmer out of business. it's coming to your area soon. so just a heads up. foo.