The Boy Teacher and the Father Student #88; Life is Too Easy

Well with Covid 19, life is still too easy. Ever thought of easy and its brother ease? Saying that it was done with ease means a whole lot. Life is not too easy without hard work. Tell that to a 10 year old and you will get an earful. It makes no sense. You make it hard so that it is easy. Well follow along here and you will see what too easy is like.

Go to the doctor with high blood pressure and she is going to tell you to start exercising and take it easy. Then she gives you a diet that is very hard to follow but easy on your body. For the boy it is so hard to get up in the morning but easy to stay up late.

“Dierker, why is it so easy for you to make it hard on others?”

We suggest that spirituality is hard to make easy. Confession and reconciliation is difficult but creates ease. Sometimes it is not too easy to love.

B: Let’s go fishing tomorrow. They are open because it is outside and you can social distance.

F: Yea but the fish might have it and we will have to use gloves.

B: And the masks will help to keep us from getting sunburned. And fish do not get it. Maybe it is the water?

F: But we will have to get all the gear and bait ready tonight and get up real early.

B: Cool, let’s practice casting in the back yard.

F: It could be too crowded. And it is going to be hot.

B: The reservoir is never too crowded and we will be down my the water where it is cooler.

F: Sheesh you have an upbeat answer for everything. So do your chores.

B: Alright, and when I done we can practice.

F: Son I am already worn out just talking to you.

B: You are faking it dad, you are never such a downer.

F: Busted! Let’s go get that nasty cheese and worms and put half the worms in the garden. And I have a new tool kit for our fishing gear and mom will complain but really love to have us out of the house. Not to mention how much she loves fresh fish. I can already taste ‘em.

B: Dad you almost always throw them back and pick up something at the store – ooh can we have lobster tails?

F: You negotiate with the boss and remember to look all hurt when she says no at first. Bet you she texts us where they are on sale.

It is so hard to make things miserable and difficult when you are dealing with a completely positive and optimistic person. As we experienced above most problems are really made up in our heads. Take my word for it, if the goal was to pull weeds and clean the yard and house, he would have been the one with insurmountable problems ;-)

Notice in the above exchange money, time and physical illnesses were not part of the problem. See how easy our life is. Sorry but thanks to Covid 19 it is that way. Maybe all that changes in a day and all of those are real hard life issues. Now as they say, that would suck. Seems we should make things happen as long as we can.

Taking Care of Stuff

Why clean things and put them up where they belong. I prefer leaving my stuff where I can get them and know where I put them. Yes my desk would look like a mess to you, but I know where everything is.

But does that take care of us inside?

B: Dad you really make me upset when you….

F: What is up with that?

B: I am expressing my feelings.

F: Ok you are practicing feeling?

B: Ya and it does not matter what makes me upset, they are my feelings not anyone else’s.

F: Who taught you this gobbledygook poppycock?

B: You know you did.

F: Alright I will bite, what are you upset about which I said or did?

B: Nothing right now.

F: Oh, silly me. You are practicing.

B: Ya so when I am, I do it right. You really shouldn’t talk about this stuff. What do you say, “you soak it up like a sponge”?

F: So how is it going? Why don’t I just make you upset and see if you have it down? Now practice the piano you are lousy at it.

B: Dad that could make me upset but you do not know how to play, so there. And please do not break out your clarinet.

Notice how strange my priorities are. I will work with the boy on feelings but neglect to teach him how to properly care for a tool. Well we do a bit of that too but it is mundane.

So we were doing a little off the main trail hiking. Narrow trail with a bunch of overgrowth. More lizards than you could shake a walking stick at. One Goshawk, One Redtail and we could hear an owl but not find it. Three Mallards and a flock of nameless ducks. One fish jumped in the pond. We remembered the really good Bushnell binocluars and a real camera this time.

Eyesight is different for a ten year old than it is for a 60+ year old. I vision is 20/20 but I am now farsighted. I know what to look for and can see things far away. At just under 5ft with real sharp up close eyes he sees everything in the underbrush.

I walk in front. Better I hold the pace back a bit so we see more and that way I take the brunt of the spider webs. Not so much as to find the right path as he has been doing that since about 6 years old.

B: I want to go in front you keep whipping the branches back on me.

F: What does that tell you monkey brains?

B: Oh, I get it, I am too close behind. I knew that.

F: You can take the lead if you want to.

B: No I will take it in the open places. Where are we going to cross the creek and get back to around the pond, it is so cool. Oh I bet it is cold too, hihihihi

F: Way too many lizards around, there must be a ton of bugs. But not many snakes.

B: Dad stop!

F: Where?

B: On your 3.* Bunny.

F: I can’t see him. Oh wait he just moved his head around, dumb bunny. Hasenpfeffer** time.

B: Nope, Hawk food.

F: Boring!

B: Dad let’s just bring the one pole and fish a little next time. You can take pictures and I will “bring home the bacon”. I love saying that.

F: Hey look at that. So cool.

B: I can’t tell if that is Javelinas or deer. They look so much the same.

F: The dirt is too messed up to tell for sure. But look over there at the rooting marks. Definitely pig.

And so another trek and another hanging out together in nature, fresh air and exercise. As we like to say; “I wonder how good the rich folks have it today”. (Those were hoof prints)

* Sounds all military but it is so much better than “over there on you right”.

** Hasenpfeffer was my mom’s German rabbit stew.