Rural Heritage August/September 2025

A Baker's Dozen More Lessons From an Old Timer

One. Don’t leave something thinking you’ll get right back to it—take the extra few minutes to put it away. How often have you put down a tool when you realized you needed something else, gone back to the house to get that something, got distracted, and never got back to your job, and later can’t find the tool and have no idea where it’s gone? Unless you’re going just a few steps, or you’re 100% certain that you will immediately return to your task, take the time to put things away. At least gather them in one central place to await further progress. This is also true of hoses and gates. Don’t leave water running while you attend to something else— or at least, set a timer! Never leave the feed stall open thinking you’ll be right back—because you might not be. The few seconds it takes to put things away can save hours of trouble and heartache later. When working on any project, decide on a place to set down your tools—a tarp, a bucket, a designated file on your desk—and make it a habit to put them down only in that place. Tools that get set down on the ground, even for “a minute,” tend to disappear. Papers set down in the wrong stack hide forever.

by Jacqueline Courteau. Illustrations by Maeve Courteau I n the last issue, I reflected on a dozen lessons learned from my Dad, Rural Heritage contributor Dick Courteau, author of the “Old Timers Tips Just Passed Along” column. Here, I offer another baker’s dozen of lessons I learned from him through words and deeds, working side-by-side in the barn and garden. Many are familiar from our shared rural heritage. I’m offering this as a tribute to old timers like my dad and the rural dwellers who lived their lives according to these rules.

Old Timer Dick Courteau

Rural Heritage

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