Tuesday, October
9, 2018
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17(NLT)
Everybody needs friends, especially
in times of trouble. Reece Elliot was my
next-door neighbor; he was also a friend.
Reece was a decade or so older than I am, and we only met a few years
before he retired. He passed several
years ago, but not before he taught me some important stuff.
We had some great times taking a
break from mowing on Fridays. Whenever
our mowers happened to be near our common property line at the same time, there
was this shady spot under the oak tree between our houses…and the mowers would
silence for a 20-minute catch-up time.
It was a convenient place where the wives (domestic supervisors) couldn’t
see how much down time was occurring when chores needed doing.
One Friday morning, about a dozen
or so years ago, I climbed up on my roof to clear some debris, and, in true
Russell fashion, taking the last step to get on top of the house, I managed to knock
over the ladder; jumping down was not an option, so I was trapped. It was only about nine o’clock, but it was
already hot in the August sunshine on that roof. I looked at the situation like Google Earth, 360°
from above, and saw nobody! I figured I
was going to cook like a fried egg on that hot shingle frying pan until Elizabeth
got home from work that afternoon.
Then I heard the mower; Reece was
on the job. Friday morning was always
mowing day; thank goodness for people of habit!
As my neighbor rounded the house I realized my rescue was not going to
be all that simple. Reece was at least
as hard of hearing as I am, and the John Deere diesel mower made quite a bit of
noise. I yelled and yelled, bellowing
out Reece’s name…but all to no avail.
All I could hope for was one of those shade tree break times.
About 20 minutes into my neighbor’s
mowing my opportunity arrived as Reece shut down the mower to wipe his brow and
get a drink. As I shouted his name, he
looked around, wondering. Several more
times I shouted before Reece looked in my direction, but still towards the
ground. “Up here, neighbor”! Reece looked up, shielding his eyes from the white-hot
morning sun and said,
“Preacher? Preacher; what’re ya doin’ up thar?”
In my native Yankee makeup sarcasm
comes out when I’m frustrated. “I’m
having a tea party, and you’re invited; what do you think I’m doing up here,
calling your name for the last half hour?
I knocked over my ladder and can’t get down!”
“Well, preacher, why’d ya do that?”
“Oh, I don’t know…it’s a nice day;
thought I’d sit up here for an hour or twelve.”
Then came the grin, a pause, while
Reece looked down at the ground to consider his next move, and he lifted his
hand in a wave, while he said: “Well, be careful up thar, preacher; don’t do
nothin’ stupid. See ya later.” And with that he started the John Deere and proceeded
to mow the lawn, while the preacher on the perch shouted,
“NO…wait…come BACK, come BAAACK!”.
Reece almost made it to the end of
his yard before his bouncing on the mower was more than just going over the bumps,
he was laughing so hard I thought he’d fall off the John Deere.
As consternation melted into
feeling really foolish, it became impossible not to join in with Reece laughing
at the situation, and the way my neighbor friend brought some humor to this
otherwise frustrating start to my day off.
Everybody needs a friend like
Reece.
For You Today
It’s true that everybody needs a friend like Reece. But, perhaps even more importantly, everybody
needs to BE a friend like Reece.
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