The Anchor

As long as I remember, my mom had a clothesline. She used it a lot as I was growing up but not as much now. It was time to take it down.

I had no problem taking down the line, but I couldn’t find the right wire cutters to disconnect the twisted wire running from the poles to the anchors. I decided to take another approach and simply pull up the anchors.

Have I ever mentioned my dad made things to last?

I tried multiple tools and approaches but couldn’t get enough leverage. I kept trying but eventually admitted I wasn’t making much progress. I’d have to leave the stakes for now and focus on finding wire cutters again.

My mom called her reliable neighbor, who has rescued me in the middle of several projects, often with a chuckle. It’s okay. I’ve learned to laugh at myself.

It took the loader tractor to pull up those stakes. The were three foot auger stakes. No amount of effort (without the right equipment) was going to accomplish the task. I was glad I was there to see it; I didn’t feel as much of a weakling.

One of the reminders of that day? It’s important to know how deep something goes. How we anchor things, people, and values in our lives matters. It takes some power to remove the deepest stuff—and sometimes that’s a good thing. Other times, we shouldn’t have driven the stake that deep.

What needs to go deeper (or get uprooted) in your life?