Here is another indispensible tool in my toolbox. Bane to the Ozarks rocky soil. Friend to those who must sink posts into said soil. All-around handy tool. When I was young and foolish, I assumed that steel posts were driven into the ground with hammers and persistence. I confess to relying on that method more than once. Then, in some manner that now escapes me, I learned of the existence and usefulness of post drivers like this one. It became a necessary tool for my continued existence and usefulness as well. The grief and effort it has saved me over the years more than compensates for the few dollars it cost to purchase such a worthy tool. If you're not familiar with a post driver, it's a very simple and straightforward tool. It is a steel cylinder, plugged at one end with a great gob of steel (or lead? -- the thing is heavy!). You slip this over the top of the post then lift the driver and let it slam down on the top of the post. The cylinder keeps the weighted end of the driver on target and focuses the force of the blow directly onto the top of the post. Most efficient. You simply keep sliding the driver up and down on the end of the post as it sinks into the ground. In good soil, a half dozen such impacts may be sufficient to sink the post deep enuf to serve your need. In my Ozark hardpan, a half hour of such impacts may be required. (Okay, not really a half hour, but half a half hour . . . ) The handles on the sides of the driver are superfluous in my opinion. I wear padded gloves when I'm using this tool, and the last thing I want is for my hands to be touching the driver at the moment of impact. The jolt from the steel-on-steel impact is severe, and after a half of a half hour of doing this, I honestly believe you can develop temporary nerve damage. As it was from just this little job, I had a bit of discomfort holding the steering wheel on the drive home at the end of the day. Instead, I slide the driver up, push it down on the post, and let go at the last moment, allowing the impact to be hands free. You're really letting the weight of the driver do the work, not the force of your muscles. In this way it is much like driving a wedge into a log with a sledge hammer. Thus the handles on the side of the driver seem pointless to me. I've seen drivers without handles at all, and certainly you can grip the cylinder itself to operate it. (The handles do keep the thing from rolling around the bed of the truck though.) In the background, through the trees, you can see the green water of Lake Marguerite. I don't know why it was reflecting green this day. Aside from the cedars, there was very little green in the forest, and the sky was opaque white.

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