There was a lot of good about the chainsaw course I took today. The instructor was eerily similar to how I recall my fourth grade teacher Mister Picard. The class was mostly women, and it didn’t rain at all.
One of the things the man who was like my old waldorf teacher asked us was why we were here and what we hoped to do with this knowledge. There were a few good answers but the best came from a woman who looked quite out of place:
I learn something new every year.
I thought that was a really good answer.
I had very specific ideas myself: I’ve got trails ot build, forest to improve, a pond to dam, lumber to process. I’m a busy man and I’ve got to put this piece of property to work.
One of the things the man who was like my old waldorf teacher asked us was why we were here and what we hoped to do with this knowledge. There were a few good answers but the best came from a woman who looked quite out of place:
I learn something new every year.
I thought that was a really good answer.
I had very specific ideas myself: I’ve got trails ot build, forest to improve, a pond to dam, lumber to process. I’m a busy man and I’ve got to put this piece of property to work.
There’s more to it than that, of course, and I’m not opposed to learning a new skill for its own sake, but...that’s not why I was there.
I don’t think I’ve gone so out of my way for something I likely won’t use maybe ever; she drove over an hour for a $250+ all day course in the middle of the week, expecting rain.
She has no chainsaw, she works from home, she has no plans to clear land or heat with firewood. She just wanted to learn something interesting and get on her feet.
The reasons we do things are altogether strange, and none stranger than the very foundation of this course. The Game of Logging is a course in chainsaw safety and logging efficiency invented in the 1970s.
A Swede named Soren who wanted to be a boxer comitted himself to finishing his day job as a logger faster. He wanted to work faster so he could get through his trees and have more time to train at boxing.
I don’t think I’ve gone so out of my way for something I likely won’t use maybe ever; she drove over an hour for a $250+ all day course in the middle of the week, expecting rain.
She has no chainsaw, she works from home, she has no plans to clear land or heat with firewood. She just wanted to learn something interesting and get on her feet.
The reasons we do things are altogether strange, and none stranger than the very foundation of this course. The Game of Logging is a course in chainsaw safety and logging efficiency invented in the 1970s.
A Swede named Soren who wanted to be a boxer comitted himself to finishing his day job as a logger faster. He wanted to work faster so he could get through his trees and have more time to train at boxing.
Fascinating.