It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. I am a mother, I have 6 kids, and I don’t need any more. But there was necessity, and so, I birthed Invention.

We live at the base of a hill at about 8900’ elevation, and the top of our hill is at 9250’. The peak is not a long way off, and you can get to the top in 15-20 minutes. But the property is covered in ponderosa pine trees, and it’s a pretty steep climb. There is a significant amount of dead wood between the house and peak, and carrying (or dragging) dead trees down is difficult. 

During the summer, Mark spends time with “chainsaw therapy.” It is as good for his soul as manure therapy is for mine. We heat with wood, so although ranchers make hay while the sun shines, we cut and chop wood. Today I joined Mark to haul the cut trees down to the chopping pile. (No photos of the timbering trees because I couldn’t figure out how to hold the camera and safety rope at the same time. 🙂 )

In the middle of trekking up the hill for another load, my thought was, “I need a sled.” Well, actually, my thought was, “I wish I had a 4-wheeler.” But we don’t have one, and so I started thinking about what we might have around that could fashion into a sled. And I set about putting it together. I got it done and loaded it (with a small test load) for a maiden voyage. It seemed to be pretty good without a load, and I figured gravity would help on the way down.

I’m sad to tell you that the sled wasn’t actually the best prototype and will need some re-design (hopefully I’m a quicker learner than Edison was). And I do already have a couple of ideas. I know, I know, there will be some of you that look at the photo and say, “Duh! That was doomed from the start!” (Hey, it had potential.)

It makes me think of some parallels to life. I’ll bet you have some too.

But I still think I’ll write a letter to Santa for a 4-wheeler.