Grumpy Old Ganz

Pick Your Battles

There are situations in life we all have to deal with, at times turning personal, and we must take action to resolve them.

Last fall, while making a woodpile, I placed it extremely close to the house for convenience, making it easier for me to haul the wood inside without much effort.

Recently, it has caused a “small” issue for me, creating a game of “cat and mouse” between a woodchuck and myself for the right to claim who the woodpile belongs to.

“Chuck” began presenting himself on a daily basis in an antagonistic fashion, leaving me no choice but to confront him. Once eye contact was made he gave a twitch of his tail… letting me know he’d seen me. He seemingly waited to see if I made a move to the door as if he could read my “bad intentions”. Then he quickly disappeared down the stacked rows of wood into one of his holes where he knew he’d be safe.

Refusing to let this rodent win the battle, I decided to root him out and move the pile further away from the house...about another 40 feet. Due to the obstacles in my path, I had to take the long way around as I hauled the wood from one pile to the other.

During the course of things, I walked 4.5 miles and five hours later had moved two cords of wood in the 90-degree heat. Needless to say...I was not a happy camper.

Upsetting several of Chuck’s “bunkers” as I worked, I began to see an end to the pile when one of the steel fence posts I had laying on top fell…putting a nice “v” shaped hole deep in my arm. I said a few harsh words.

The next morning I spent half an hour filling in Chuck’s holes. As I headed toward the house I took one last look over my shoulder. And, yep, there he was...just sitting there looking at me as if to say “gotcha”!

He may have won the battle for now, but I will definitely win the war!