Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tough as a pine knot

That saying came to me while lying here thinking about my uncle .
Took a dinner plate over to him and my aunt yesterday evening and he was all excited to tell me of his adventure of the day .
At first I told him I couldn’t stay cause I was without a shirt .
This didn’t seem to matter , he had some excitement he wanted to share . So I had a set and listened to his story .
He has a cow he has made a pet if out of the bunch and takes an apple or HoHo cake 😀
He was opening the gate to a fresh feed lot when his gal , the cow , came up and gave him a friendly bump .
The ground has a couple inches of slush from melting snow so it was enough bump to cause him to lose footing and fall into a mud puddle in a ditch about a foot deep .
He said the shock of the cold water and mud that seeped into every opening of his clothes had him scrambling to get up .
But he kept slipping back into the ditch .
Almost gave out with stress and physical drain he came to his senses and realized the barn corner was right behind him and turned and pulled himself up . Soaked and a cold front blowing in had him hustling to get the gate secured open and then he was worried about the vehicle seat and thought about the blankets he had in the barn for new borns . Finally got in the vehicle and made it home and was worried about his new coat being soiled .
Now this may seem like another day on the farm to most , but the fact that he just turned 98 is certainly worthy of the title , “tough as a pine knot”
WWII veteran of Japan too , has some interesting stories about life .
Glad I slowed down and gave him an ear , was lying here this morning thinking about him .
Kenneth

The greatest generation. Unarguably.

We’ve got a veteran from WWII over here that a buddies uncle. Tommy fought in the South Pacific as your uncle did and just finally sold off his cows a couple of years ago. He is still haying the place to sell. They are definitely the greatest Generation.

Great story

Treasure these men while you can.


I have to ask though, why weren't you wearing a shirt? lol

Great story and glad you took time to hear it, as it was important to him to tell it.
Please tell him Thank you for your service for me. I have hard enough time with English, don't think I could ever learn to speak German or Jap.

He truly is. Good of you to listen. There are still a few tough guys out there. I know one. He is a man bun liberal, but the guy is truly as tough as nails. He will grow up to be a good man - he's 24.

Straight up bad ass. We need a million more like him.

Great story and most definitely “Tough as a pine knot.” Good for you for taking the time out of a busy day to listen. 98, jeeeebuz. That’s old time grit! We could use more like it.

My Uncle just passed away at the age of 98 in December. He was clear headed up until the day the Lord called him home. He was also a WWII vet in Okinawa, Saipan, and the Philippines. I wish I had taken more time to go visit and listen to his stories. I'm glad you decided to stay.

http://www.andersonmattson.com/obituary/owen-braseth

I had breakfast this morning with a gentleman age 88 who was the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division. So you can imagine the war stories he has to tell, this morning's was about being shot down in a helicopter over Viet Nam and living to tell about it. His travels in the military and in civilian life after his military career have taken him all over the world. He is a very interesting gentleman to talk to.

LIKE !!!!

Going to services this morning for another tough, old WWII vet.
GM "Dogie" Jones died at 95. Enlisted in the Navy in 1943, after his mother agreed, at age 16.
Telephone lineman for a bit, then joined the NM Sanitary Board as an inspector, eventually rising to become director of the (now) New Mexico Livestock Board.
Ranched, farmed, and produced high quality Quarter Horses for decades. Active on the ranch until less than a year ago.
A good man, and a friend.

The greatest generation....agreed.
I/we have lost all of our close family who were of this generation, my mentor's, all of my uncles were WW2 veterans, one of them was a pow in Hong kong, so grateful to them all.

Not only am I thankful for men like this, I'm thankful to have been raised in a time that taught me the value of men like this.

Great story!

Here. Here.

Spot on. I miss many that I knew.

Yes Sir !