Thursday, March 04, 2010

Rex Barker here with,

"The Lesson of Shelling Peas."


While living on the island paradise of St. Kitts, as a teenager I used to hang out with my best friends, and on this particular day we elected to take pleasure in shelling peas (the ones you eat come in pods that have to be shelled) with my friends grandfather - Mr. Morton, who would often regale us with stories of old.

Mr. Morton sat down without saying a word and started working while we continued to chat about nonsense. After awhile, he began humming this song and we stopped to listen to him. He had only been out there for about 15 minutes by this time and he then said, "If you are going to do something do it right or dont do it at all."

"What are you talking about grandpa?" my friend asked.

With a smile, Mr. Morton then tipped his bucket towards us and when we looked in we saw that his bucket only had in a small quantity of peas compared with the quarter-filled bucket that we had. As we looked closely we also saw how clean his work was, all the little shells, leaves, twigs and other trash from the peas that were in our bucket weren't in his bucket either. Thats when the depth of his words hit me; I realized that I was hearing wise words that meant something deeper than peas. He also told us that when you do something do it to the best of your ability, but do it right no matter what job you have to do just do it right so you dont have to redo it later.

After he finished talking he had this smug look on his face and started to lean back but, the chair he was in was really old so he leaned back too far and the chair tipped over, his legs flew up in the air and all his peas fell all over the ground getting as dirty as ours. We all busted out laughing at him. Mr. Morton has since passed on, but his message was not lost; it is buried in my heart and and now I try to do things once -- the right way the first time or not do them at all. This story is in his memory.

This is Rex Barker, agreeing with Mr. Mortons wise words.

11 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

I was always the one who tried to fill the pail the fastest with an occasional stick or two.

Clytie said...

I like Mr. Morton. One of my favorite memories of my own grampa (passed away 30 plus years ago) is how he could peel an apple and keep the peeling in one long, slithery piece. And so thin - then Grammie would make apple pie that was soooooo delish ...

Wow, thanks for those memories.

Lady Di Tn said...

Patty
This reminded me so much of my Mother's wisdom. Thanks for bringing back the memories and giving everyone a good lesson. Peace

Yankee Girl ~ Missy said...

How true! Now I remember why I don't like pea's too! =)

Twisted Fencepost said...

Poor fella. All that hard work. And he had to do it over anyway. Just shows that sometimes we have to laugh at ourself, even when we have to redo something.

Beth Niquette said...

I really enjoyed this blog entry! How wonderful. One just never knows what will stick in the mind of a child.

I wanted to thank you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers when our darling Crickette' died.

I don't know if collect prizes and such for your page--I know Abe does not--even so I'm inviting you to come by my art blog for a little surprise I made, in celebration of our Crickettes' life--especially for those who have been so loving and supportive.

Blessings to you, dear girl.

Renie Burghardt said...

Rex Barker never fails to inspire!

Renie

Cheryl said...

And wise words for sure! I remember hearing something similar to this and it has always stayed with me. Although I must admit I don't always do so...

Merle said...

Dear Patty ~~ I so enjoyed this post
Patty with the wisdom from Mr.Morton
and Rex Barker. I wish we could still buy peas to shell here. Very rarely see them nowadays.
Thanks for your good wishes for my son Geoff and dil Joanne who came last night. Geoff as usual did some gardening for me. I am tired tonight
and feet swollen again. Plan to have an early night. Take great care, my friend. Love, Merle.

Margaret Cloud said...

A very nice and true story. If you do something always try to do it the right way. Have a nice weekend.

The Mulligan Family said...

Excellent advice that I always try to live by. Those were my father's wise words as well.