On May 8, Danny Derbyshire (age 13.846) operated a chain saw for the first time. He got half an hour of instructions and warnings beforehand. Then we went up the treehouse and sawed off a big old dead branch, with some rope-work so it wouldn’t fall 20 feet on to a neighbor’s new fence. Great father-son co-operation. Great excitement for Danny. Great pride & satisfaction for Dad.
[Chain saw story. In 1974, when chain saws were not much seen — were definitely not a normal houshold consumer item — I was living in New Rochelle and hanging out nights at a rather seedy bar named Buzzy and Dick’s, down there on the Post Road somewhere. One night the bartender/owner got into a dispute about something with a very well-oiled customer. The guy left, then came back a half hour later with a (presumably) very well-oiled chain saw, and proceeded to attack the bar with it, to the consternation of us patrons. Anybody around in New Rochelle back then remember this? It was the talk of the district for at least a week . . . among barflies, anyway.]