The Making of a Man

It all began as a dare to Connor from Steve.  If you can chop this tree down with your hatchet before I get my new chain saw, I will pay you fifty dollars. 

Connor took a few hacks at it and threw in the towel. 

"There's no way, I can get this tree down before June 12th!" (His Dad's b-day-the day he would be getting his chain saw.)

A few days later there sat the tree. 

And Jake picked up his hatchet and began to plug away.

He chopped...

And chopped... and chopped. And never gave up!

He worked at it for an entire day with very little rest and was bond and determined he was going to get the tree down.

The next day he was so close to the end that Steve hooked up his truck to the tree with a chain so it would fall in the right direction. Jake was at the wheel.

All his hard work had paid off and we couldn't have been more proud!

He did get a blister, but he also had a huge cheering section as Grammy, Papa, Uncle Gary and Aunt MaryAnn were all on hand to witness this monumentous occasion.

Pretending he was a beaver! :)

Upon completion Jake quoted us an Egbert Guest poem 

that he learned from his Great-Grandpa Posey:

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,

    But, he with a chuckle replied

That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one

    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

    On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;

    At least no one has done it";

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,

    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

    Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

    There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

    The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,

    Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing

    That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

Jake requesting his hard, well earned $40.

Today, right here, we saw the making of a man!