I really enjoyed this weekend’s WSJ article about Reagan on his ranch and the desire to break a sweat.

Imagine paying $527,000 for a 688 acre ranch in California!

Granted it was 1974 but still.

Sitting on my 1960’s era glider staring at the back half of my “1” acre, I can only imagine how he felt roaming that land back in the day, far away from the chaos of DC. Working with his hands. Getting dirty.

Harris shops in downtown L.A. while Trump plays golf in Florida in their “down time”.

The Gipper hooked a trailer to his red Jeep, filled it with creekstone for a patio that he would help build by hand.

Secret Service had to learn how to ride horseback. The nuclear football and codes close behind, trying to keep up!

Those Glory Day stories make me smile.

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I once knew a similar fella who also wasn’t afraid to break a sweat and once hauled the entire remnants of a 100 year old stone chimney out of a field so he could add a rustic touch to his property.

Those massive stones would create a wall and lit columns for an expanded 3 car wide driveway, the hard way.

As I recall it took about 10 trips and not a single set of hands helped haul it out or stack it and build it except for one.

When I asked him why in the world would you attempt to do that, without breaking a smile he simply said: “Because I wanted to son, that’s why”.

To those who knew it still meant something…

We salute you.