Observation from the field:

• My MOTO saddle is WAY more comfy than tractor saddle. Best remedy ever? The old down pillow, all mushed up. 
• Hot air is still hot, even with a breeze. 
• Grass seed (& chaff) + Chapstick + wind = terrible combo.
• The local grasshopper population is decimated. In other news, I should be on the “favorite human list” of every blackbird, finch, starling, and barn swallow in a two mile radius.
• There’s a lot of protected time to think, pray, meditate, make up silly little songs, run through your to-do list, and day dream.  
• While it is possible to text & tractor, it is not advisable for straight lines or spelling
• Grass, as a projectile, can draw blood and leave a welt. It wouldn’t surprise me if TSA started screening for it.
• If one stares too long, one can become mesmerized by grass lapping at the mower cover. In other news, a moving tractor isn’t a good spot to nod off.  

  
Not as many critters in the upper field. Woot! 

About 2 hrs left of mowing tomorrow, then on to raking! 

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It is impossible to know how what you do, especially if it’s normal to you and no big deal, or how what you say can impact someone else…unless they tell you. 

One of my friends told me today, “So proud of you for taking this on and sticking with it.” 

Another friend commented, “you’re so rad.” 

And in the telling, it’s impossible to predict what a profound effect even a simple expression can have. 

To me, arguing with equipment, cutting hay, taking care of the Old People, these are the every day variety of stuff-that-has-to-get-done. #trueconfession I got altitude discouraged at one point yesterday when I’d used about a gallon of WD40 and couldn’t get a nut to come loose. So both comments have stayed with me all day. Thanks, DK and CP, for the encouragement! 

#notetoself: when you have the opportunity to tell someone when they do something you admire or appreciate, tell them!!

There are certain milestones you look forward to. Turning 16 and getting your license. Your first car. Graduating high school. Moving into your first apartment. College. Getting a “grown up” job and fitting in to the “real world.” Buying your first new car. Paying off student loans. First two-week vacation, somewhere foreign. Etc. 

Yesterday I experienced another milestone. It’s all my responsibility: all the mowing, all the raking, all the equipment. I’ve been slowly taking over, but The Old Man has always been available to back me up if I get in over my head. Now, at 80, he’s mobile only with a walker. Getting to the field, lifting, pushing, wrestling parts is beyond his capacity this year. 

So, chalk up another notch on my Grown Up belt. I successfully navigated getting started and finishing day one in the hay field.  

I learned a few important things:

• Something will inevitably happen (read, go wrong) and it’s never similar to what went wrong last year
• Tears of frustra–er, fierce determination won’t budge the dead weight of a several hundred pound piece of equipment
• Taking a breather and thinking about how the hydraulics function is much more effective 
• You can stretch some interesting body parts when you try to shift several hundred pounds of equipment dead weight
• A vice grip is a pretty useful tool 
• WD40 is one of the most important tools in the shop
• It pays to hang on to old tractor parts

Also, it’s smart to have friends who know stuff you don’t, and can do stuff you can’t. Like weld. (Thanks, Poppy, for the help.) And I’m significantly better with triangle corners than square ones. 

Day 1 live critter count:

• 1 bunny
• 14 voles (although 1 might’ve been a dupe)
• 1 garter snake

I’m glad the bunny is still around. Although I’d much prefer more snakes and significantly fewer voles.