Helping Hands

A week or two ago, I started up our lawn mower and was going to mow around our hill garden. When it started, it kind of burped a couple times and sounded kind of funny but it smoothed out and ran good. So I drove around the south side of our Hill Garden, and the mower virtually quit. For the motor to even run I had to have the choke on and even then it would quit. So I had Marge drive the four-wheeler around, and we drug the mower up by the shop under a tree.

I'm not much of a mechanic, but I figured it was either the electrical or the gas. But as to what was wrong, I didn't have a clue. So we called in a motor doctor, and within five minutes he decided it was probably either the fuel pump or the gas filter. One or the other, or both could be bad. So I bought one at a local parts store but also ordered an extra from eBay. Drove up and picked up the fuel pump and gas filter. Had them installed in less than 15 minutes. The motor ran almost like a new one.

There comes a time when we need a hand. Someone who really knows and doesn't just think he knows.

A couple years ago, Marge and I were driving our Silverado and almost instantly the air conditioner quit and the heat indicator quit and the display said engine was hot. Not good to say the least. But the engine wasn't hot. I knew that. Turns out there is a kind of sensor that measures the temp of the motor, and it had gone bad. So we had a friend of ours install a new one, and we were back in business. Except about six months later, it did the very same thing. So our friend installed a brand-new sensor. Maybe the sensor was a bad one. But the very same thing happened only about two weeks later.

Something was wrong, and it wasn't just the sensor. So we took the pickup to another vehicle doctor who had more training and probably had more experience, and he immediately said it probably wasn't the sensor but it was the clips that attached to the sensor. So he got the parts and installed a new sensor as well as the new clips, and we are still back in business. It took someone who really knew his stuff to get our pickup fixed. I would say he was an expert. He sure knew what was wrong right from the git-go.

Helping hands come in all shapes and sizes and can be men or women or boys and girls. But who is a helper? The other day I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my cellphone. It was totally silent, so I checked the airplane switch, and it was off. Sound was on as well as vibrate, but man the phone was dead soundwise. I didn't have a clue. I handed our oldest son my cellphone, and he checked that little switch on the side that turns the phone sound and such off, and it was switched off. He flipped the switch and I was back in business. He was just what I needed. I'd missed a couple calls where the phone wasn't ringing. I needed some friendly help. He probably figured Dad isn't that up on technology, and I'm not. I can get by, but I don't have a clue as to how to unlock the potential of my cellphone.

Sometimes one gains the knowledge to help by years of experience at success and failure. Gardening is honestly a learning experience where you learn how to overcome roadblocks. Every year we have either no rain or too much rain, late cool temps or blistering hot, Japanese beetles or grass hoppers or worms, fungus of one kind or another, weeds on steroids, and the list goes on and on. But those of us who have prevailed can help those just starting out. First rule of gardening is don't make the garden too big. Undersized the garden. Keep it small and simple. There is nothing as discouraging as an acre of garden hidden under 2 feet of weeds and grass. Need some help? Ask.

Before the virus and all the problems that have stolen our summer, I was asked to mentor some beginning gardeners with a focus on high tunnels. I really hesitated doing it because we have a bunch of irons in the fire each summer. But I decided to help with the program because it would have been nice when we first got our tunnels if there had been a helping hand for us. Someone to answer questions or offer suggestions or just throw us some compliments now and then. That's what helping hands are for.

A lot of what I know today was initiated back when I was growing up. Dad always gardened, so I had a basic understanding of gardening. Marge grew up canning and freezing garden produce, so she has experience along these lines. We both grew up around cattle and horses so add this to our resume. Seems like my whole life I've sawed boards and hammered nails or roofed houses. Got a hankering to try blacksmithing so took a class. I'm a beginner blacksmith.

Many years ago, Marge and I offered a canning class as one of the ways money could be raised to help the youth raise funds. Bids were placed and two sisters won the canning class project. So both sisters came down to our house and Marge helped them can some produce from start to finished project. Marge had fun, and both sisters left having a basic knowledge of canning produce.

Friends are there to help but not to use or abuse the friendship. Be real careful not to abuse the privilege of help from a friend. If you can't be a friend all the time, don't ask for help on that rare occasion when help is needed.