Think positive

By Rennie Phillips

From the time I was little, Dad and Mom and us boys would drive up to Three Corners north of Hyannis, Nebraska, and fish. Man, it was an awesome lake full of bluegill, crappie and bass. Just awesome! After Marge and I got married, her folks lived about 30 minutes from Three Corners so I'd fish there as often as I could when we were up there visiting her folks. So I fished it for decades.

After Marge and I got married, several of us from her folks' place would drive over there and fish. One that always went was Gary, Marge's sister Rosemarie's husband. But when Gary went he knew he wasn't going to catch a thing and if he did it wouldn't amount to much. When I went I just knew I was going to catch a boatload of fish. I knew I was. And typically I caught a bunch and Gary hardly ever caught a fish.

Now I knew the lake better than Gary. That was a given. But Gary was a good fisherman. So what part did my confidence play in me catching fish or Gary's lack of confidence play in him getting skunked? I wonder!

A friend of mine came to me and asked about us building the gazebo in the cemetery here in Scott City. So we went to Sikeston to the United Methodist Church where they had a gazebo exactly like the one the one they were wanting in the cemetery in Scott City. After checking it out and looking at the plans I thought to myself that we can do this. Little if any doubt. Hold my coffee because we can do this.

Planned it out and built it numerous times in my mind. Poured the concrete many a night in my sleep. Laid the brick in my dreams. Built the metal structure on paper and then slept on it and then built it for real. I'd never laid brick before so read some books. I'd laid a bunch of stone and blocks but no brick. The books helped. And with the help of our sons and some friends the gazebo got built. But I knew we could get the gazebo built. Confidence probably. Great childhood. Definitely.

Part of this confidence, I'd have to say, was how I was raised. When some problem came up Dad fixed it. When the cub tractor needed the motor overhauled Dad tore it apart and fixed it. He had a tool where he ground the valves. Mick probably has it someplace. There was a crank that when you twisted it, the valve went clockwise and then counterclockwise. Back and forth. I don't have a clue if he'd done it before. But Dad just rolled up his sleeves and went after it. But Dad did that with everything. When a problem came up, Dad solved the problem.

But most everyone I grew up around was the very same way. If something broke you couldn't take it to town to get it fixed. Usually there wasn't a place in Arthur, Nebraska to get it fixed so you had to do it yourself. Dad simply couldn't use the electric welder. Maybe his sight was bad enough he couldn't see so he'd braze it all with the acetylene torch. Man I tried to braze stuff and never could. Never! But when I got old enough I went to burning electric welder rod. Burned a lot and made some awful welds. When one bead didn't work I'd put three on it. But I learned. I could do this. So Dad let me start welding on metal stuff that broke.

When we first bought out place out where we live I had a neighbor bale us some big bales of hay. At that time I didn't have a piece on our old Ford tractor to move them but we needed the bales moved. So I bought two 16 feet six by sixes. I laid the 6 by 6's along the side of the bales and chained both ends together. One end I hooked to the three point on the old Ford, lifted up one end of the 6 by 6's and moved the bales. Probably got the idea from the Indians using it to move their belongings. Problem solved!

One of my main crops is tomatoes. I absolutely love tomatoes. So as problems growing tomatoes would show up I'd try to find a solution. I noticed that some of my tomatoes leaves would die from the bottom up. Little by little the leaves down low would die and then gradually work up the plant. So went to working on the problem. Spent many a night dreaming about my tomatoes and the problem. Turns out there is a fungus in the soil that causes the leaves on the tomato to die little by little. By putting a barrier on the ground to prevent this the tomato plant has a fighting chance to grow me some tomatoes. Problem solved.

But finding the solution was painful. I still remember one summer it was super dry but there were still weeds. So I decided to till between my rows of tomatoes with our Troy tiller. I tilled the soil but in doing so I stirred up a dust storm. Dust all over my tomato plants. Worst summer I'd ever had as far as fungus and disease. Painful lesson but I never forgot.

There have been times when I've decided I simply didn't have the time and the resources to do it myself. So I've taken my problem and let someone I trust take over. Later on I wondered if I gave up too quick and was in a way afraid of failure.

The point I'm driving at is don't give up before you give it your best shot to solve your problem. Give it your all. If you simply can't do it alone call in reinforcements. Get some help. Your help might be your neighbor or your friend or your son or whoever. You might need some heavenly help so send up some prayers. The point is don't give up till you know in your heart giving up is what's needed.

"Hold my coffee, I've got this!"