We have a lot of boys on our block. My son Andrew, who
turned 7 in May, is one of posse of between 4 and 6 boys who are
running my back yard into the ground. Every day there is another
summer experience, be it insect, baby bird, bear sighting,
stream flood, bike trauma, water fight/hose dousing, etc It
just goes on and on. It is often destructive so I've started to be
aware all the time of what is going on when the boys are around.
So far, for example, I've had broken chairs, blown out hoses, my
collection of moss rock dumped into the creek, holes in the yard,
and that doesn't even include the spears, arrows, clubs,
swords, and fake guns all whipping around in a whirl when they are
in battle mode.
Having been raised in a family of boys, I now understand why
my father always had a project going. It was an attempt to
constructively wear us out, as well as teach us about work. My Dad
was/is an amazing worker, but his real gift was his ability to
create work where none existed before. He could see a barren
landscape and in that fit of insanity and brilliance reminiscent of
a "Tower of Babel" moment, he would see a "PROJECT" that we could
do. Often it would include moving stones from one place to
another, but piles of dirt would do nicely, and hole digging, oh
Lord, that was one of his favorites. "Cmon, you guys," he'd
holler, ". . . you'll never get any muscles just sitting around.
Let's fill up this wagon with these stones and we'll dump them in
the foundation for our garage." "But Dad," I'd say, "we don't
have a garage". "WHAT," he'd yell. "No garage?" And then we
could see it in his eyes. The muse overtakes him and the garage is
born. There goes the entire summer. Of course, we probably only
worked a few hours every day and spent the rest of the day riding
bikes, playing baseball, whipping around swords, guns, spears
and arrows etc., but it felt like a lot of work. I have now
adopted my father's strategy.
In the last 2 weeks we have ripped an old green house off the
back of our home which included moving 16 cubic tons of broken up
concrete (the decrepit retaining wall and buckling floor) into a
series of dumpsters. This means we must rebuild the retaining
wall and put in some sort of patio. This means moving lots of heavy
objects and digging holes and pushing wheelbarrows and digging into
gravel piles and creating holes and oh, Lord, creating work for
boys.
It took about a week for them to understand that when you are
engaged in work there are side benefits to be gained which you
might never acquire if you weren't engaged in doing the work. There
might be money. There might be snacks. There might be a trip to
the land to play in the stream and fish and make 'smores'. Most of
all, though, there is the opportunity to build muscles and do
something which at the end of a couples hours actually looks like
you did something. My favorite moments in the last week was when
the neighbor kid, Miller, came up to me after a particularly
boring morning with my son and politely asked if there was any work
that they could do. Dead pan I turned and said, "Only if you ask
nicely." In the sincerity which only an 8 year old can muster he
said, "Joe, do you PLEASE have any work for us to do today?" My
son then added my favorite Wendell Berry quote: "Yeah Dad, because
when you see the work to be done, how can you NOT be the one who
wants to do it?" Oh, shit. I felt like I had died and gone to
heaven. We dug a hole. Sure, they don't realize yet it is a
hole that we will use to put gravel in so we have a dry well for my
drainage pipe behind the retaining wall, bah-ha-ha, but could they
possibly be happier than spending time swinging a pick and wielding
a shovel? I think not.
The down side to this is that they must be properly watched at
all times or, God forbid, they will swing a pick into someone's
foot or head. I end up not getting much done because of that, but
it is usually worth the time wasted. Wasted? Ah, that is the
down side of being raised by a workaholic. . . that I still
occasionally judge my day by the work I accomplished, not the
quality time I spent interacting with the people I care about.
Still, it is a wonderful line to walk, or pick to swing, or shovel
to . . .
The digs (no pun intended) on gigs....
First a giant thank-you to everyone who has hired me for private
parties this summer. I've had more fun
writing songs, and singing along with you all than I ever could
have imagined.
Wed. July 11th Classic Homes and Norwood Dev. Group sponsors this
Wed. night Concert series at America the Beautiful Park, Colorado
Springs. Farmers market runs from 4pm -8pm and the concert is from
6-8pm. With special guests KJ Braithwaite (guitar,mandolin,
ukalele), Susan Rissman(vocals) and fresh off a year in
Switzerland, Malcolm Lucard (mandolin).
Thurs. July 12th I AM NOT PLAYING. But, the second in the series
of shows up at Liberty Heights is happening and Randy Rodriguez who
does wonderful covers of old Bing Crosby etc tunes will be there.
Contact tsmith@sner.com for further information.
Friday, July 13th. Guffey, Colorado Peaceful Henry's Restaurant
and Bar. 6-9pm. With special guest, Jim Sokol. Lovely drive.
Incredible venue. Great food. Always magical. Contact Richard at
57tr3@ris.net or call 719-479-2209 for reservations. BTW, if a
party of 10 called Peaceful Henry's in the last few days, some of
the message was deleted by the father of an employee. Please call
them back if you are on my mailing list.
Sat. Aug. 4th 9-10AM at the CC labyrinth for the First
Congregationalist Dance movement class. Contact Jen Finn at 291-3120 for more information. (with Susan Rissman)
Sun. Aug. 5th Rocky Mountain Church of Rel. Science (Hillside
Community Center). 10 AM Service
Aug. 9th weekend I am scheduled to be in Eugene and Portland,
Oregon. Check my web site for details next week.
Blessings all . . .and ". . .when you see the work to be
done . . ." Peace Joe U
Uveges News Archives:
October, 2009 Uveges News
Cowboys, Portland, New York, and Castle Rock
September, 2009 Uveges News
The Chicken Scratch Diaries
and August/Sept shows
February, 2009 Uveges News
Cruise update(YEAH), Pete Mayer
Palmer Lake, Pueblo, Canon City
January, 2009 Uveges News
Peter Mayer, Carrie Newcomer,
The RUB and "Volunteer Day"
December, 2008 Uveges News
"The Mainline Adventure (for guys only)
and the last show of the year. . ."
March/April, 2008 Uveges News
"Karl Marx Lesson, Colorado Springs
and Denver shows, N.East tour"
January, 2008 Uveges News
"Portland OR, HPUUC, Soul Link, and NASCAR"
October, 2007 Uveges News
"When Freedom Calls CD Release Concert "
September, 2007 Uveges News
"The End of Summer . . .Portland, Black Forest, Monarch"
August, 2007 Uveges News
"Working Boys (Cont),
Aug./ Sept shows, Olive Branch Returns every Thurs"
July, 2007 Uveges News
"On summer projects, boys, and schedule"
June, 2007 Uveges News
"Ducks in trees, the Philharmonic, and schedule for june, july"
(click here)
April/May, 2007 Uveges News
Late April, Early May shows
and the story of the "Stinking Ant Eater"
(click here)
March, 2007 Uveges News
This weekend in C.Springs, and New Hampshire end of March
(click here)
February, 2007 Uveges News
Soul Link with S. Rissman, N. Hampshire etc.
(click here)
November, 2006
Pre-marital Sex, Tours and End of Year Shows
(click here)
September, 2006
CABOOM!!!
(click here)
August, 2006
August 06 Co.Springs, Creede, Trinidad
(Click here)
July, 2006
On Maggot Farming and the summertime schedule
(Click here)
June, 2006
Summer Musings and Schedule Through Late August
(Click here)
April, 2006
Music and Rafting on Bighorn Sheep Canyon
(Click here)
March, 2006
March shows and Monarch Ski resort
(Click here)
January, 2006
Soul Link
(Click here)
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