Sometimes it's Hard to come up with Good Solutions

If you were able to tune in on the last video called "This Idea Didn't work as Planned'" you would have seen that Jim was in the process of trying out a new way to get the logs out of the woods, since it is such a long skid. Now that the trail is more frozen and suitable to work with, Jim is deciding how to be most efficient. This morning as we sat for coffee before the day began, Jim recounted the pros and cons of the new skidding apparatus. We discussed at length the reasons why it did not live up to his expectations and if anything could be changed to make it work. This is often the way we work through situations. Mostly I am his sounding board and can help him just rehash his ideas and sometimes a gem of a new idea will be roughed out.

No light bulb ideas went off in our heads this morning. Jim's conclusion was that there probably is no perfect solution to how to get the logs out of the woods right now with this long skid and what he has to work with. Jim also said that if he had just kept skidding as he had been doing, he would be further ahead right now. But giving something new a shot is worthwhile for a few reasons. Through the trying, new things are learned and skills are acquired and knowledge is deepened. Perhaps he is wrong and a more practical way will be obtained to get logs out of the woods. Maybe he can still "tweak" what he has been working on. Jim has spent time talking to his logger friend via the phone and has deepened ties there. The sharing of knowledge is also a very valuable thing. So many times in life we cannot see the full value of our efforts and how we spend our time until days or seasons down the road. Knowledge builds upon knowledge, skill upon skill, relationship upon relationship. Below is a picture of Jim with one of his first teams, when he may have thought he knew a lot.....

There are times when we do have to just get back to doing what we were doing, as that plugging away does produce. In the Bible, in the book of Proverbs it say: He who gathers money little by little watches it grow." Maybe the same could be said for logs. Before you know it the pile is bigger and the log truck is coming as one piles up logs one by one. It may not seem like there are any good way to get logs out of the woods with a long skid but one thing is for sure, they won't get out without lots of effort by man and horse. If you are interested our morning routine, we talked about it on one of Jim's first videos. Just click the link : https://youtu.be/pbsfDeBnMoM