My grandma used to say "many hands make quick work". Working with friends and family not only makes us more productive but turns a job into a social event.
This weekend, I volunteered with a friend to hand out recycle bags for an apartment complex that was starting recycling this Monday. The plan was to deliver 170 bags, to 170 apartments, knocking on each door and introducing the new recycling. With one person, Sunday afternoon in 80 degree weather, this would have been a chore. But with 3 friends chatting and working together, the afternoon proved fun and it felt good to lend a hand.
My grandparents had the attitude that many hands make quick work. I remember my great grandma Biddle's joyful attitude as we would sit at the kitchen table shelling peas and visiting. One year a fellow farmer/neighbor of my grandpa Alton's hurt his back. He couldn't harvest his farm. My grandpa showed me a picture of all the neighborhood farmers and their tractors lined up ready to bring in the harvest for their injured friend. I know my grandpa and his neighbors didn't have free time or extra money. But what they did possess were big hearts and a strong sense of what is right. When my grandpa showed me those pictures later in his life, he was so proud of that "work day". Not only did their work save a neighbor and friend from loosing a whole years work but the volunteer farmers gained lifetime benefits from their generosity.
As our families get scattered around the country, those simple afternoons of shelling peas with family or helping neighbors may be getting fewer and farther between. But they are just as essential in our lives as they ever were. Maybe if our families no longer live next door, then lets create families in our communities and with our friends. Getting together not just for fun but to get our work done by making quick work with many hands while enjoying the whole process for years to come.
Just a thought for Monday.
As always, wishing you and your family a happy and healthy home,
Denise Frakes
Healthy home specialist
Owner- Blue Sky Services
