A few months ago I watched a guy
remove a tree stump by using a Samson Post.
I’d never seen this before and I thought it was ingenious. I learn best when someone shows me what to do
then gives me a go. I’m not too flash
with books and lectures.
When I left school back in 1982, I
did not get the sort of marks to enter university or go forward with any sort
of academic career. I didn’t do well and
unfortunately left school believing I was a bit of a dummy. I had not received much validation from my
efforts and mostly I was embarrassed and saddened by report cards and teacher
interviews.
But I was a strong young pup and
loved gardening and when my Uncle Ian asked me to mow his lawns and said he
would pay me, I agreed and started working with him every Saturday
morning. I ended up helping him with the
whole garden and we built retaining walls and even pulled down this enormous
thick vine that had grown over his old shed.
It was tough work.
I will never forget the time Uncle
Ian announced at a family dinner that he thought I was the best worker he had
ever seen and that I was as strong as an OX.
I was beaming. This started for
me love of gardening and all things practical.
I worked as a landscape gardener for a year after I left school and then
got a 4 year plumbing apprenticeship with the Master Plumbers Association of
Victoria.
Over the years, even as a Salvo
officer I love to get stuck into a practical things like gardening projects and
renovations and having a trade background means I can turn my hand to most
things that need fixing or building. I
have been involved in constructing quite a few community gardens and I have
pulled out dozens of trees and bushes to clear land and make way for a new thing.
A few months ago I went to the Catholic
retreat centre near Woodford. I go when I get a bit feral and the Lovely Sue
thinks I need some time to get my head straight and have some time of
reflection and solitude. I’ve been
attending these retreats consistently for over 20 years now. She must think I need this a lot!
Anyway, on the Saturday morning of my
retreat, I drove out to the Glasshouse Mountains Conservation Parkrun. I love these 5k parkruns and try to do one
every Saturday no matter where I am. When
I returned to the retreat centre one of the Catholic Brothers had his ute
parked at 90 degrees across the driveway up to the center and I couldn’t
pass. I stopped my car and got out to
see what he was doing. He had a chain
attached to the tow bar on the back of his ute and this chain went over a piece
of strong steel tubing in the shape of a T.
The chain then continued on and was wrapped around the bottom area of a solid
looking tree stump. He had dug a bit
around the stump and was obviously trying to remove it. I asked him what he was up to and he
explained to me that he was removing the tree stump using a Samson post. I’d never seen or heard of this before and
was intrigued.
I watched as he set it up and drove
the ute forward a metre or so and low and behold, the tree stump popped out of
the ground instantly. I was super
impressed and came to understand and appreciate how the Sampson post acts as a
fulcrum and uses the sideways energy of the chain from the ute against the
solid upright section of the Samson post to pull the stump upwards with a
lever action, instead of just pulling the stump sideways. So simple yet so effective. I was genuinely excited and will be sure to
make a Samson post for the next time I need to remove a decent sized tree
stump.
I’m the sort of person who learns
best by being shown and watching someone who knows what they are doing. Leave
me alone with books and soon I fall asleep or am distracted and bored. I have found that some of the stuff the smart
people have written in books is not always practical in the trenches anyway. I reckon there are lots of people like me who
learn best from an apprentice style of education. Let me rub shoulders with someone who is
really good at something, get him or her to show me what to do and then give me
a go - and coach me as I do it.
Jesus taught people this way too,
chatting and explaining things as he did normal life with his friends. Talking about everyday things like seeds and
sheep and telling stories and parables.
Jesus was a tradie like me and I reckon we would have been mates.
Bless ya,
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