In the text Irving says, “He never refused to help a neighbor even in the hardest work, and was a man prominent in all country pranks for husking Indian corn or the construction of stone fences; even the women of the village hired him to run their errands and to do those little jobs that their less obliging husbands would not do for them” (311). Instead of asking for a job at the inn, he would sit there and listen to the most prestigious men in their community talk about nothing. There were times when his wife had to come get him and she fussed and grumbled all the way home. Everyone in town loved Rip, but they also knew he wasn't very ambitious. When he got tired of feeling his wife's mouth, he played different games, but his favorite was squirrel hunting. For example, in the text written by Irving, "On one such long walk on a beautiful autumn day, Rip had unconsciously climbed to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill Mountains. He was pursuing his favorite sport: shooting squirrels, and the quiet solitudes had echoed and echoed with the shots of his gun” (313). Sometimes, if he was too tired from his activity, he fell asleep