The Hoe

“You’d sure look better on the back end of a hoe” stated the old man; as the boy held a baseball bat in the barn yard. A garden hoe, a hoe used on the farm, a marvelous tool of agricultural antiquity. Hands gloved in worn, smooth leather gloves. The country virgin farm hands soon grow wise of the protection of naked hands. Soreness and blisters give way to callouses and the routine use of leather gloves. The handle slides easily and smoothly in the experienced hands and stops at merely the thought of transition to the

next required action. The hoe the common place tool of common place tasks for uncommon, spectacular results. A sharp edge to hack and to chop, shorter up and down motions. Slice as a fillet the soil with shift, long horizonal stokes with the same edge. Used to draw and push away soil and debris. Placed at an edge, a “v” or “u” row is dragged to plant the seedlings. The heavier, slightly larger hoe brings in all the potatoes in the fall season.

“Now boy the hill needs cleared of weeds and brush. You’d look mighty fine with a scythe, sickle, or machete in your hand.”

Times and tools differ and change. Yet, some remain and are largely used in this old world of ours.