All signs pointed to Saturday being a scorcher, a steamer, another hot one on The Mountain. We’re managing our comfort well, Smudge and I, but there’s been precious little productivity.
The trick, obviously, is to start early (and finish early). I’ve been lazy lately, though, and that’s unacceptable. So yesterday I woke up committed to doing something, anything, before the Ozarkansas heat drove me back indoors.
I promised myself the day I moved to The Mountain that I’d never again mow another lawn. I’ve stuck to that, but weed-whacking doesn’t count. As Nature tries to reclaim the area excavated for the cabin, it gives me plenty of weeds to whack.
The west side of the driveway in particular had gotten out of hand. I made that my target.
My cardinal-messenger talked to me as I worked.
The picture makes it look like I didn’t accomplish much. Maybe I should’ve taken one before I started. Some of the overgrowth I cut down was knee-high, and (to me) this is a huge improvement.
And I was done by 6:45am.
As “way leads on to way,” so work leads to more work. The end of one task, in my experience, inspires the next. I looked for some small thing to take on outdoors before I had to call it and return to the cabin.
The Silverado’s interior begged for further de-funking. Once again I vacuumed carpet and upholstery and sprayed fabric surfaces with Febreze. In the back seat was the dog hammock — over five years old and (if I recall correctly) never machine-washed.
I removed it, ran it through a heavy-duty cycle and set it out to air-dry.
Notice where the sun-shadow line is in the image above. That was at 9:15am. The temperature already was 83°F, and the relative humidity was 80%.
Time to get back inside.
Snapshots from a summer Saturday morning.
A thought kept popping into my head yesterday: Most people couldn’t live like this.
Truth is, most folks couldn’t live “out here.”
Somehow over the years, I became the kind of man who loves this life. I belong here, living just the way I am.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable