The Warrior

From teen years the old ranch hand knew he wanted to do some welding.

Mr. Holmes had an oil field welding shop in Turnertown and it fascinated a dumass country boy to see things fabricated from steel and welded into their final design.

Wanting the "stuff" to weld and prioritizing it with family and such delayed any equipment acquisition until about 1984. Yep, the ole fat boy waltzed into Montgomery Ward's and purchased their finest (cheapest) "popcorn" welder to take to the ranchito in Wright City.

Course, knew Dad was a bit of a welding "dauber" himself so he would naturally be "borrowing" the new "prize" from time to time.

"Time to time" turned into immediate "planting" in Dad's backyard (where it resided until his demise 15 years later?)

The Ward's warrior is currently in the ranch barn in an honored capacity commemorating its long years of service to Dad.

This fine day, the ranch hand cranked his newly acquired gasoline engine welder-nator contraption and spent eight of the finest hours one could imagine "daubing" flux coated, sputtering, steel rods applied to a project that your humble scribe prays Mr. Holmes and Dad would be proud of?

Yeah Dad, I knew I wouldn't have the time to fire up that Monkey Wards machine when I bought it, but I also knew you would wear its butt out with a vengeance.