I think I mentioned it before that I hate landscaping. I do not like cutting the grass or taking care of anything that grows in dirt. I like a nice lawn, so I put my focus on that area. I cut it and weed and feed it. Occasionally, I will repair it.
Efiwym, my wife, I believe, likes yard work. She has a vegetable garden and plants and takes care of flowers and other plantings. I usually walk the other way when she starts on her “yard work.”
One Saturday afternoon I came home, and she was working on removing stumps around our back tree line. We had cut down some dead trees in prior years to give us more yard space. I did not think we needed more yard space and hence more grass to cut, but we decided to create some. Normally, I would just go into the house and watch through the window. However, she seemed to be struggling, and I felt like a jerk not helping her.
So, I went outside and asked her how it was going. She admitted that it was not going well. She said she was not strong enough to pull out the stumps and she was having difficulties cutting out the roots to remove it. I knelt down to check out this one stump. I pushed and pulled at it to see what was hanging it up. Efiwym had done a great job of exposing the roots, however, getting at them was another story.
I was officially committed to the project. Seeing her sweating, red in the face and full of dirt, I had no choice. I soon would be sweating, red in the face and full of dirt too. I asked how many stumps she was planning on removing, she said, “All of them.” There were about 5-6 stumps. Immediately I thought about renting a stump grinder, but I am a cheapskate. I did not want to spend any money on this project. This one stump seemed to be shallow, so some muscle power was all that was needed.
She was using a hacksaw to cut the roots, but she could not get under the stump to cut the roots. We did not have a reciprocating saw at that time and I only had a rip saw. I suggested to her to buy a hatchet, and Efiwym just shrugged her shoulders. So that was the plan. I would buy an axe from the local hardware store and she would continue digging out the stumps.
Off to the hardware store to buy an axe. I found one at the store and purchased it. When I got home, I tried using it to cut the roots. Either I did not have the strength or leverage to cut the roots, axe did not put a dent into the roots. The axe was not razor sharp, as I could drag my hand across the edge.
After hacking away for about an hour without success, I decided to return the axe. When I got to the store, I told the clerk that I wanted to return the hatchet. What happened next, really pissed me off…