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Between A Rock And A Hard Place

May 3, 2022

You know when you do everything right and it still goes wrong?

My son and his friend helped me move rocks on Saturday. My son knew what I was asking him to do. We were going to work for an hour or so. He invited two friends. He told one friend what the plan was. The other friend he just said they were going to ‘hang out.’

One friend had other commitments. One did not.

Not surprising which one chose what.

His friend showed up to ‘hang out’ dressed in typical teenager fashion. It was not rock moving fashion.

“If you’d just asked me to come help, I’d have been happy to help. I just would have worn different shoes.”

He’s a good kid. They all are.

Anyway, we worked about 90 minutes and moved 60 rocks. That might not seem like a lot. But, we estimated each rock weighed on average 75 lbs. That works out to about 4500 lbs or just over two tons of rock. Some of the rocks were over 150 lbs.

Free rocks. . .just had to pay the price to move them

These 164 rocks will eventually extent the existing rock walls

164 rocks. . .about 12,000 lbs

The pile should be bigger given there are 12,000 lbs and 164 rocks

These 164 rocks will eventually extend the existing rock walls

My son made it through the entire process without a scratch. His friend skinned his knuckles. I didn’t fare so well.

It’s a minor injury as injuries go. But, definitely painful. And colorful.

My finger got stuck where the rock wanted to be

Yes, it hurt. . .a lot. No, I didn’t cry. . .not that there’s anything wrong with that

People asked me what happened and I explain that I stuck my finger literally between a rock and a hard place. And the rock weighed about 75 lbs.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany II, an anthology including his latest short story, “The Mercy System” here

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