My jackknife needs a good cleaning.
Yep, you heard me right..... my JACKKNIFE!
Out picking beans and cutting zucchini this morning, and I couldn't get the knife open. Mr. Wonderful chuckles and let's me know it's time to clean it.
Clean it???
Since when do you have to clean a jackknife?
Mr. W. chuckles again and tells me I am adorable. That's how he responds when City-Me asks 'chicken-dumb-cluck' questions about living in the country. (Sort of like when I first asked long ago how do chickens know how to come back to their roost before nightfall.... chuckle, chuckle... They're CHICKENS, honey. They just KNOW!)
I have had smaller gardens for many years, but now that we are in the Big Time, I can't make it through the day without my own jackknife. I used to borrow Mr. W.'s, but then I went and put it down in a Safe Place.... along with that trowel I haven't seen since last August. This year, I was gifted my very own... with a light yellow handle so it will be easy to spot amid the green of vegetation. I've only lost it once....... and then I found it. WHEW!
Back to cleaning a jackknife. I know how to clean clothes and dishes and porcelain tile and carpets. I know how to clean leather and windows and toilets and cars, but jackknives have never been part of my repertoire before, so I ask for a demonstration. Mr. W. goes and gets a special can of spray oil (how long have we had THAT?) and an assortment of tools that look like he has lifted from the dentist's office. You know, the long skinny pointy ones they scrape your teeth with. He opens the knife and sprays oil in the crevices; he wiggles the blade to and fro'; he sprays some more and asks for one of the dentist-like tools (I feel like I am a surgical nurse... here you go, doc). He covers the tool's tip with cotton cloth and draws it along the crevice several times, moving the cloth with each pull. God, there's a ton of dirt in there. WOW, that knife really DID need a cleaning. (We're not done yet, honey.... chuckle, chuckle)
I watch as more and more dirt gets pulled out of that knife. I ask how often he cleans his knife. "Not much." How is that possible????? Look at all that DIRT? How come YOUR knife doesn't get all dirty like that? Chuckle, chuckle. "I don't stick my blade in the dirt, honey." Well, how else can you get things cut if your blade doesn't hit the dirt from time to time? Chuckle, chuckle. Silent pause. "I guess I just take a little more time and a little more care NOT to hit the dirt, honey."
We smile at each other.... a big smile.
I have a lot to learn.
Fun, isn't it?
