Bump on a Log

When we were being lazy or not moving fast enough, my dad used to say, "Don't just sit there like a bump on a log."

This saying annoyed the hell out of me when I was a kid.

So, Imagine my surprise to find that it's slipped out of my mouth a few times this week.

I used to think this saying was corny. For some reason it reminded me of the farm where my dad grew up. Perhaps because I'd heard my grandfather (papa) say it as well, and he lived on the farm until he died. I think I used to think it was provincial. Unsophisticated.

This week, when I've used it, I've been thoroughly amused. The first time, I thought, "Woah brain, way to dig deep back in time!" The second time, I smiled and thought, "Yeah, actually, he does physically resemble a bump on a log on that couch." And, the third time, last night, I mentally pictured a woodpile full of oak rounds, many of them with individual bumps and smiled at the appropriateness of the simile.

And, of course, every time I say it, I feel close to my father and his extended family.

So, if I start sounding more and more like a country bumpkin hick seed from the sticks, you can recall that it all started with a bump on a log.