WDH Danny Hamsley

[Texas Ranger]

One night Danny and my wife and I were out having a steak and adult beverages.  Danny had seen my office but wanted another look.  So we stopped by and had another adult beverage.  Danny had to make a stop, so I photographed him coming out of my "library", I believe this was the last time Danny was here in Texas. (poor photo, did I mention adult beverages?)

[customsawyer]

Thinking of Danny this morning. We both enjoyed the movie Jeremiah Johnson and would quote it to each other when the opportunity arose. One quote we would throw at each other on a regular basis is "You've come far pilgrim".  

[YellowHammer]

The other day a customer showed me a photo of some kind of wood neither of us could identify, I couldn't even tell if was even a domestic species.  For years when something like this would happen, I would say "Hey, I know a guy, he knows every species and he can tell us what it is" and I would text the photo to Danny and "Mr. Big Words" would send back a definitive "I can see these blah, blah blah things and if you look real close I can tell that blah, blah, blah and so this is definitely from XXX tree."  So I'd shorten the dissertation down and tell the customer "My buddy says it's this and you can take that to the bank." :D :D

Me being a "rocket scientist", I am used to big words, but some of the nomenclature Danny used would twist my brain and literally go in one ear and out the other like a good dose of collard greens.  Whoosh, if you know what I mean.  I figured he was always doing that because he figured I could follow along, but nope, he was giving me too much credit.  I even told him once "Danny, you know I have no idea what you are saying" and he said "Sure you do!"  Nope.  Most of the time, I couldn't remember enough of the Latin he used to even Google it.  

Either way, when the guy came in to ask what species of wood it was, all I could say was "I have no idea" and that kind of left a hole in my day, thinking of WDH.   

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, you hit that on the head. Happens to me also. I'd be in the woods and spot something I had never noticed before and my first thought was how to get photos that Danny could work with so I could find out what it was. Then I remember and feel that same 'hole'.

[GAB]

YH & OG:
Sorry to hear that you two failed Professor (or maybe DOCTOR) Danny's class.
However you most likely both did better than I would of.
From my vantage point Danny had time for all seeking wood related issues advice.
At Jake's last shindig I had brought two pieces of slabs that I had sawed for a fellow and asked Danny if he could identify it.  He agreed with what the owner had told me.  So now I can safely add sawing pear to my list of species sawed.
GAB

[Old Greenhorn]

I surely don't think we failed. I think we remained students and a good student listens and applies what they learn. Danny raised my level of knowledge and my ability to look for the details. A big kick in my day was when I could ask for his help, but offer up what I thought was correct and he would confirm it, as well as explain why I was right. It didn't happen often, but when it did I would smile all day.
 It's a true testament to the value he gave many of us that we miss him so in our daily lives. I never met the man, except in these pages, but I surely valued him, his humor, and knowledge.

[K-Guy]

Even if he didn't teach you something, you were still left feeling richer for having contact with Danny. He's one of the few people I have never heard a bad word about.

[customsawyer]

I don't think there was a single "project" that Danny didn't end up kneeling on the ground with a stick drawing in the dirt and slinging them big words around. Slider was the one that gave him the nickname "Big Words" and it stuck pretty good. Of course Danny earned it.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Like, I assume, all of us I have had Danny cross my mind every day in one context or another.
Only met him at the pig roasts and at Jake's but he left a lasting positive impression.
Did the man ever not smile when you had a conversation?

[YellowHammer]

Oh yeah, there was one time I made him so mad that he stopped talking to Jake! because I had pulled Danny's chain a little, and he mistakenly thought Jake did it!! :D :D :D  It was a great prank, especially when he started blaming someone else, and when I told Danny that I was the one behind behind it, he just burst out laughing because being mad wasn't his thing and he just said "That's just Robert!" and everything was good again.  Most folks who know me find out pretty quick that I don't mind pulling at people's soft spots, and there is a certain amount of "overhead" that goes with being friends with me. :D :D :D  Danny was a good friend and he just took me with a grain of salt and sometimes couldn't tell if I was joking or being serious.   :D :D

I think that's why he would quote Latin to me, to jerk my chain too, because for all I knew, he was quoting a cook book or instructions on how to bake cookies.  I had no idea what he was saying, and he knew it, and he would just keep on explaining the secrets of the universe in a language I couldn't understand, and he would just smile while doing it. :D :D  He could take it and dish it out, too.  

[barbender]

"Overhead", I like that😂 

 The more stories you guys tell, the more I regret never being able to make it to a Pig roast or Jake's sawing shindig.

[K-Guy]

@barbender 

You have been missing out on meeting good people and some like Danny who are/were outstanding people.

Of course you even get to meet some like me and Jake too! smiley_jester

[barbender]

The Good, the Outstanding, and the...Other😊

[chet]

@barbender 
yer only about a 5 hour jaunt on US2 west of me. And I'm about a 6 hour trip, (now dat I don't hafta drive 55 no more) ta da pig roast. So make plans. :D

[barbender]

My excuses become fewer all the time, Chet😊

[Texas Ranger]

In honor of Danny:

[rusticretreater]

Nothing superfluous or intransigent in that epistle of conversational content.  Just sayin!  8)

[Dave Shepard]

He certainly didn't suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia.

[chet]

All I can say is YUP  :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'm sorry he is not here to cheer on his Georgia Bulldogs. I think about him every time I see them on TV or I see them at the top of the rankings :(

[TroyC]

Did the man ever not smile when you had a conversation?

Well, at Jake's this past spring, Danny and I rode the golf cart thru my woods and he was giving me advice on the trees. It was cold that Sunday morning, like really cold for that time of the year. About half way thru the ride neither of us were smiling, but in the warm truck on the way back to Jake's, we thawed and he was smiling all the way to lunch!

[customsawyer]

I've seen a few times when we would be doing some sawing in the heat of summer and the heat could take the smile off his face. It would only last until he got in front of a fan.

[Texas Ranger]

Danny's birthday, have him on my mind and wish we could give him the day.  RIP, buddy.

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, he always wished me a happy birthday every year.  I just got reminded by a notification today off his FB account.

I appreciate anyone else sending me birthday wishes to by the way, just so you know about it. It does not go unnoticed. ;)

[customsawyer]

Thinking of my buddy today. I sure would like to still have him around. We always seemed to be picking on each other. I sure seemed to be leaning on him a lot.