Moving Rocks
My parents wanted to put some loose rock down on the side of their house this spring. There’s a patch there where the grass doesn’t grow well between the house and their neighbor’s wooden fence. So they went out to a store and bought eighteen 50-pound bags of rock. I said, “That’s a lot of rock! How are you going to get it to your house?” They thought they might be able to put it in their car and just take several trips. I was very concerned for them. I don’t live in the same city and couldn’t just run over to help them. They’re both in their mid-seventies and they’ve both had some health issues. I told them I didn’t think that was a good idea. After all, I said, that’s 900 pounds of rock! I didn’t think they had any business, physically, trying to move 900 pounds of rock. My mom replied, “That isn’t 900 pounds of rock. Let’s see, it’s 18 bags, each bag is 50 pounds…well, when did you get so good at math, Mr. Smartypants?!” I thought they should buy the rock in bulk and...