Hey guys, it's Mike Row and this is episode number 190 of the way I heard it and it's called

that's a big ash tree.

That's a big ash tree.

When my father said those exact words in the conversation you're about to hear, I was

pretty sure he said that's a big ash tree which made me laugh because anytime somebody

describes a thing as a big ash thing, I always imagine the hyphen not between big and

ash but rather between ash and whatever the thing is that follows it.

So a big ash truck becomes a big ash truck or a big ash house becomes a big ash house

or a big ash boxer becomes a big ash boxer.

Bigging the obvious questions, what exactly is an ash truck or an ash house or an ash

box or I don't have the answers, I just know that my dad was trying to describe the size

of a large ash tree that he and I were attempting to remove from the ground one day back in

the summer of 1977 and the various challenges that that particular big ash tree presented.

It's just one of the many delightful linguistic confusions you'll find and yet another

spontaneous catch up with my mom and dad and another one of the many reasons this podcast

is called the way I heard it, not the way it was.

Even my own dad remembers things differently than I do, which is not at all unexpected.

The old man is here to help me unpack chapter 12 of my book which I'll read for you

fourth with.

Chapter 12 tells the true story of another father and another son and another miscommunication

that turned out to have some very serious consequences.

Big ash consequences you might say or if you prefer big ash consequences, whatever

...