“Resourceful: Able to deal skillfully and promptly with new situations, difficulties, etc.”
When it comes to home projects, my Dad is the most resourceful person I know. He is 87-years-old now and has invented so many devices over the years that it boggles my mind.
Some of his inventions and fixes include:
- double-tasking a mini saw to sharpen his knives
- building a chimney
- laying his own sod, cement, tiles, decorative bricks, sidewalks, and patio
- attaching a surgeon’s light to his workbench so it moves where he needs it
- devising his own plumbing tools
I was amazed when I grew up and learned that people hire others to do work around the house. It never occurred to me that every house didn’t have a Dad like mine. With a background in construction and vehicle repair, he knew how to do everything – from electrical to plumbing to painting to landscaping to fixing electronics and cars.
I think back now to the many weekends he spent in the basement fixing things or out in the driveway working on our cars. It was great hanging out with him, smelling the wood, seeing him concentrate on his latest device, just soaking up his ingenuity. Maybe we all could learn a thing or two from simply rolling up our sleeves and digging in.
Photo courtesy of PlanoHandyman.
What a wonderful insight. Your post has inspired hours of memories of my own father working in his woodshop. He would never let anyone tell him to buy a solution to a problem. He always fixed things himself. It’s a forgotten art nowadays.