Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/a-manner-of-speaking/5021996/
It wouldn’t budge. As hard as I pushed, the log just sat there; and I fell over laughing at how impossible a simple challenge had turned out to be. We were setting the stage for our beach cookout �" crunchy blackened s’mores, sandy hot dogs, smoke in our eyes, and such deep pleasure at being with special people in a favorite place and watching the sun go down.Leaning against logs is the preferred seating, so we were creating our space when I noticed a twisted piece of rebar piercing the closest log to the fire pit. I imagined all sorts of potential injuries and wondered about solutions. Fifty yards away there was a scattering of washed up logs. Well, I’ll just roll one of those big old logs over here and create a barrier, I thought. And so began my thwarted attempt to solve the problem alone.
My laughter caught the attention of my grandchildren: Zachary �" 7, Schon �" 6, Jonah �" 4.5, and Caroline �" 4, so I called them over to help. Zachary ran over first and together we pushed and pushed. Nothing. Then Schon. Still nothing. Then Jonah. But it wasn’t until Caroline joined in and ...