A retired logger's comment about my notch cut stuck with me all week

Last Tuesday I was felling a big red oak out near Springfield and this old timer, must have been 80, watched me make my notch. He didn't say anything until I was done, then he just said, 'son, you're cutting that hinge like you're mad at it.' I laughed it off but then I realized he was right, I rush the notch to get to the back cut and my hinges end up jagged. Since then I've been slowing way down on the notch, letting the saw do the work, and my fell lines have been straighter than they've been in months. Has anyone else had a random stranger point out a habit you couldn't see in yourself?

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dakota16016d ago

Man, that's one of those things that sticks with you because it's not really about the cut, it's about the whole approach. I mean, when you're doing this work day in and day out, you get into autopilot mode and your body just does what it's always done, even if that habit is kinda sloppy. That old logger probably saw himself in you, you know? Like he recognized that same rush he used to have and figured he'd pass along the trick before you learned it the hard way. It's wild how a total stranger can just drop a sentence that rearranges your whole brain. Maybe it's just me but I feel like we all need someone to call out our "mad at it" moments now and then, whether it's on the saw or just life in general.