Jake: Don’t forget to help out an old dude with a chainsaw

Not every opinion piece needs a hot take. Sometimes it just needs a chainsaw.

This past long weekend, my wife and I braved the ferry lines to visit her mom. Beautiful weather, classic Pacific Northwest summer kickoff vibes. At some point, we ended up on the back deck, and I glanced across the street to wave at the neighbor — a guy probably in his mid-80s, sun hat on, clearly gearing up for some yardwork. God bless him. I hope I’m that spry at his age.

Then I noticed the chainsaw.

Which raised some questions about what exactly he had planned. So I grabbed my three older boys, and we went over to investigate.

Turns out he had a stump in the backyard that needed to disappear. And here’s the thing: One of my great passions in life is doing anything with a chainsaw. I grew up in the woods, spent many a happy summer felling trees and cutting firewood. My offer to help was charitable, sure — but I’ll be honest, it was also at least a little selfish. My mother-in-law’s house only offers so much recreation, and the chance to look cool with a chainsaw in front of both an old dude and my three sons? Too good to pass up.

It wasn’t tough to convince him to let me help. And after we finally got the saw cranked up, it was touch-and-go there for a minute, and we got to work. But here’s where it got good.

What began as a favor turned into a neighborhood moment

Whether it was the sound of the saw or the noise of three young boys, something drew the neighbors out. Old dudes started wandering over from up and down the street. By the time we finished, I was revving a chainsaw in front of an audience of no fewer than seven dudes.

My wife later joked that I must have been pretty pleased with myself. She knows how much I like an audience when I accomplish anything in the yard. And she wasn’t wrong, but that’s not what actually got me.

What got me was watching all these old guys, years and years of life experience between them, joking around with my three sons, who have almost none. Meanwhile, I’m right in the middle, sweating through my shirt, trying not to make a fool of myself after all my big promises.

After about 20 minutes, the stump finally gave way, and like any good group of supervisory men, we all congratulated ourselves thoroughly on a job well done.

It was a genuinely cool afternoon, and a good reminder that when you set out to make somebody else’s day, you usually end up making your own.

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