Chris Jones was old (he must have been

fifty) to us teenagers back

in 1960.  Summers, when

the two of us (a running-back

and center) worked as laborers

for a construction company,

the foreman had assigned him as

our guide.  One arm hung uselessly,

although both hands could grip and hold

a shovel.  We would flail away

down in the ditch we had been told

to dig.  “Use legs, not arms,” he’d say,

“Push with your knee against your fist–

to work all day, swing dirt, don’t lift..”

– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL November 2, 2012