Wish I Could...

I wish I could tie a cool knot. Today, I saw a guy throw two Christmas trees in the back of a pickup and then go get some twine and a knife. He quickly cut the desired length, looped the cord through the proper eyelets on the truck, lashed the trees securely, and proceeded to do something I never learned how to do: tie a cool slip-knot so that all this entanglement could be undone with a flick of the wrist.

My daddy saw to it that I learned the most important stuff. A stellar public education followed by four years at ACU. I clearly remember when he bought us a set of used encyclopedias. The year was 1960 and the encyclopedias were copyrighted in 1936. Anyway, academic matters were almost as important as spiritual matters.

But Dad wasn't "handy". He didn't work on cars and had very few tools. And he must've not known about knots. Because I've gone 59 years without knowing how to tie stuff down. I'd almost trade my sheepskins for the ability to tighten a rope and quickly fashion a gorgeous knot that could be undone in half a second. And sadly, I've left my sons in a similar condition. You can't pass on a talent that doesn't exist.

Now I know why I was so envious of Boy Scouts.