My father-in-law, Bill, was the best fix-it man I have ever known. He was a child of the Depression, as such, he learned how to fix things and make things work again. He did not throw stuff out he thought would be of use again somehow. Yet he was neat and tidy, all things were in order and clean. He always had his toolbox in the boot of his car and a knife in his pocket.

If I did not have a work list for him when they, he and Polly (my mother-in-law) would visit us, he would go home. Be sure gentle reader, I always had a work list.

I would sit and visit with him in his magnificent shop while he worked. We chatted about tools, and projects. I would help him sweep and straighten up.

The best thing is, he taught our sons. They enjoyed him and his shop as much as I did. They were made to keep it orderly if they worked in it. They had fun making wooden guns out of the scraps he had. I could hear them laughing together in the shop.

My best fix-it man has been gone a long time, but his skills and love of being in the shop are carried on by our sons, and me. Though I wish my shop were as tidy as his.

I never took photos of him working. So this summer I have had a grand time taking photos of one of his protégés, our son Gordon, working on his summer projects before heading back to school in Idaho.