This past weekend my parents came over to my house to help with me with some much needed yardwork. Actually it wasn't technically my yard work - but my neighbors. They have these lemon trees (three or four of them) that hang over the fence and drop lemons and branches onto my yard.
So we took the opportunity to recreate one of the "vintage" photographs of my dad from his youth. This photo was taken in Dec 1950. (Dad 21 yrs old)
This photo was taken just now (September 2009) when Dad is almost 80 yrs old.
As you can see - he still sports the same style shirt!
Also - slightly less noticeable is the fact that he uses the same tree trimming tools. If you look closely, that is the very same clipper he used in the 1950's on the orchards in central California (where he grew up). Why does he still use them? the short answer is that they are incredible. I used it briefly this day and the modern clipper that I had next to it was completely outmatched! This old one was made of wood and was lighter, better balanced and sharper. They really don't make things like they used too.
Even though my Dad is turning 80 next month, he still insists on climbing ladders and doing manual labor. (again, they don't make them like they used too!) I guess it helps that he's so skinny, but when I got up on the ladder to trim the tree, I nearly lost my balance a few times. Whenever Dad was up there - he made it look so easy - almost effortless.
