Lingo

I had mentioned that we use our own code here on the farm, sometimes as a shortcut to words we use all the time but many more times it is more like nicknames of the familiar.
On our crisscross web of skid roads throughout the forest, we name (sometimes temporarily) the roads or landmarks along the road. Currently the roads I use most often are called; the top of the canyon, the ladder, rope, clay stretch, rooted old growth, upper gate, along the back, new road and 6 acre begin. Some of the names can be figured out as one travels along in the woods, other names would not be that obvious and can change at a whim.
Our hayfields get their own names by the size; 5 acre, 15 acre, 25 acre with the 25 acre field getting split into to separate fields; front and back. The 15 acre field is the one that we can only access by driving up the county road and going in a long driveway so is also known as the far field.
Tools go by different names and many times they depend on who is working and who is handing the tool to the worker. There is a specific wrench that we use to open the pump when we have to clean out snails and debris out of the paddles, of course it would be called the pump wrench, unless we need that same tool on the tractor to replace the shear pins that break on a regular basis, then it is called the shear pin wrench. We use a bar wrench to tighten the chain on the saw, but one end also is a screwdriver so sometimes it is a wrench and sometimes a screwdriver. Where the tools end up depends on when it was last used, that requires remembering what had recently broke down or what new gadget we were putting together as to where that one specific tool may be located(this could be a whole separate story from names and can lead to serious family clashes).
All works well when all parties use the same descriptions, but sometimes our words fail us as well as our imaginations that can’t always keep up with new lingo. It’s times like these when I give up and go take a walk. When this happens, you can find me in the woods out on the ladder road.