Tools For Success
They say we are a lot alike.
Those words flatter and frighten me.
Honest, articulate, gregarious.
Hard-headed, risk-taker, emotionally distant.
And then there are the traits you grew into:
Financially successful.
Politically influential.
Decisive.
You taught me the fundamentals.
While my feet still dangled from the booth, you scratched out business deals on restaurant napkins.
While I read books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I learned to think in cash flow and asset growth -- and how to balance both.
Before I could drive, you talked me through engineering a bridge that would withstand floods and massive debris jams.
I learned to anticipate potential force and weight-bearing capacity while balancing the cost of construction.
While I bounced on the pickup seat through potential timber harvests, you explained the impacts of spotted owl policy on your investments.
I learned to follow the consequences of a policy past the first direct impact.
When I watched squirrels toss cones to the ground and questioned where they would live after you cut down their home, you explained the art of managing natural resources for sustained growth –that squirrels need trees that grow quickly, not standing stagnant.
I argued that stagnant trees are important, too, but at least the squirrels would still eat.
My love for the land comes directly from yours.
At 10 years old, when I told you I wanted to ranch someday, you asked why.
Your eyes told me that rangeland seemed so barren and empty compared to your forests.
In my innocent effort to help you understand, I said trees and cows are the same, only I will harvest my crop every year instead of every 40 years.
When you had a family who depended on your income, I watched you choose to start your own business instead of working for someone else.
When I needed to choose between the stability of a paycheck or gambling on myself, I bet on myself, too.
I’m still not sure that was the right choice, but I don’t like people to tell me what to do. Clearly, we share that trait.
Your efforts as an elected county commissioner taught me that the most powerful authority is closest to home.
I respect your ethics and ability to justify your reasons for your decisions.
County officials influence policy more than any other interest group if and when they accept that responsibility.
You taught me that I have access to politicians if I ask -- and that I have a duty to ask, to share my opinions, my concerns and my appreciation.
I watched you volunteer your time to civic organizations and learned that each of us needs to contribute to our communities.
I watched you continue to learn through workshops and conferences yet hang on to the fundamentals of timber management that you learned in college.
I learn, too, yet cling to the fundamentals.
Sometimes, I wonder if I’m lagging behind.
I learned the importance of family from you, choosing one another even if conflict bears its ugly teeth.
I learned that love means showing up, even when I don’t know what to say or do.
I watched you set boundaries and learned to set my own, even when they cost a lot.
Integrity is worth more than cash.
So rest in peace, Dad.
You gave me the tools to be successful.