A Little Roof Repaired

Cruz’n’ for Kindness – A Little Roof Repaired – 3.19.18

By Jon Cruzan

I have been walking quite a lot on our phenomenal Glacial River Bike Trail. Walking because I am too wussy to ride my bike in cold weather. Walking is also more conducive to picking up litter and making observations than the pace of the bike allows. If you are familiar with the trail, you know that someone has erected a few birdhouses in the area of the Klug Road cul-de-sac. (I don’t know who.) Earlier this month, I noticed the roof of one of the birdhouses had split and fallen to the ground. I tried to retrieve it but it was out of my reach on the other side of the fence.

I mentioned this to my good friend Ernie Fisher, who also walks on the bike trail. He too had noticed the bird house in need of repair and said he was going to fix it.

The next time I walked by the birdhouse, it had been fixed. I didn’t see Ernie fix it, but I know that Ernie had completed what he said he would do.

If you know Ernie at all, you know that he is consistently a man of deep faith, strong character and commitment.

Why would he fix a birdhouse when there is no personal gain to be realized? He even had to go to the trouble of bringing tools along on his walk.

I believe he did it because he gains fulfillment in doing things for others and doing them well. He believes in the greater good for all and, in the words of the old song, he brightens the corner where he is. (“Brighten The Corner Where You Are” is a hymn written by Ina Ogdon in 1913.) He does this because this is who Ernie is. Most of the time Ernie does these things and people don’t even know about it. Not this time, Ernie.

Jon Cruzan is a community catalyst. He tries to catch people being kind to one another. When he does, he lets them know about it. It makes them feel good, it makes him feel good and colors the world in a positive way. When Cruzan is not on his bicycle or picking up his grandsons from school or networking with community members, you might see him picking up litter or working to make Milton better in other ways. Cruzan can be reached at jcruzan@charter.net.