do it yourself

My grandpa, always known to me as "Bampa," was a hard-working, do-it-yourself sort of guy.   After growing up on a farm in the early part of the 20th century, there was little he couldn't figure out or do for himself.  As a young entreprenuer and later a very successful businessman, he knew how to work with others to get his ideas accomplished.

As I grew up, Bampa would often hire a young guy from the local high school to work with him on his farm.  By that point, Bampa was in his 70's, but slowing down wasn't his style.  The teenagers' parents talked about the great benefits of hard work on their sons.  Those boys would learn from Bampa, helping in the things that were too labor-intensive for him to take care of alone.  My older cousins had all done stints in that "intern" job, and it turns out Bampa was pretty infamous for his work ethic.  As one cousin said, "there's two ways to do a job: the wrong way, and Bampa's way."  

My mom was also a frequent laborer for Bampa.  One summer, around the time Bampa was 80 years old, he and my mom (with a little help from my brothers) laid concrete pieces along the shore of the creek and Missouri river that adjoined Bampa's land.  It was literally hundreds of yards of shore, many feet deep, and Bampa had a particular style of rip-rapping: each piece of concrete was hand laid, just so, until it fit like a giant tetris game.  

The result still stands as a wonderful feat of "DIY" engineering; the shore no longer erodes into the river, silt doesn't collect and cause flooding issues at the end of the creek, and the current property owners enjoy a view of the river without losing their lawn.

I tell all of this because I know my grandpa and my husband always got along.  I just wish Mr. Kenobi would have had more time with Bampa, because they are two peas in a pod.  Yesterday, Mr. Kenobi decided it was time to do our "project" of breaking up a long stretch of unused driveway.  We plan to plant grass and some planter beds in the new area, to increase play area and green space in our backyard. 

The concrete was 4-6 inches thick, but he rented a jackhammer and chiseled away at it.  It turns out, that was the easy part.  He then had to lift the pieces out, load them and place them on the other side of the house to form a new path along our property.  I tried to help, but he had a real system to his project.  Each piece was chosen carefully, loaded into a wheelbarrow, and placed along the path line in an intricate puzzle.  Then, loads of smaller gravel and dirt were hauled and scooped into the path, filling in the spaces until it was sturdy and stable.  Finally, the whole path was hosed down and brushed with a broom until it was clear and even.  I eventually got to help a bit (once I'd heard and seen exactly how he wanted it done).  

It is beautiful.  That path will last a very long time, just like that bank of the Missouri back at Bampa's farm.  It was also amazingly hard, labor-intensive work, and my husband is particular about how such work is done.  There is a wrong way, and a Mr. Kenobi way, to do things.  Sort of reminds me of another great man...