I Mowed the Lawn!

Sort Of

My lawn is tricky. There are lots of trees and bushes. Some of the tree roots are sticking up out of the ground so you can't really take the mower over them without damaging things. Then I have that bank in front of the house and a sort of sunken section of lawn on the other side of the driveway. All this means that the main part of the lawn can be well mowed with the riding mower, but to do a thorough job, I need to do a ton of weed whacking. So, the major part of the lawn is done and if it ever cools off, I will do the week whacking on another day. Until then, at least it looks as if someone tends the place now and then. *G*

As you will have surmised, it was hot again today, and humid. We had a pretty noisy thunderstorm last night that cooled things off for the night, but dawn brought back the tropical air.

I have noticed an increase in the flies in the barn. Simplyfly, for Muriel, is a feed through fly preventative. It treats the horses' manure with an insect growth regulator that kills the fly larvae in the manure. That cuts down on any breeding flies in the manure, but it does not stop the flies from breeding in the wet areas around the barn. With all the rain we've had this year, there have been places that have stayed wet all season. That is where I put the fly predators, hoping they will eat the fly larvae breeding there. Still, some escape to grow up into stable flies....but not many. However, with the heat and humidity, it must be prime fly weather.

I went for my swim in the early afternoon. The weather forecast was predicting more thunderstorms for the afternoon, but they never came. But I'm glad I went when I did as the pool was not at all crowded and I had a lap lane all to myself. I managed 15 full laps today. I am thinking of joining my University recreation thing so I can use the pools there during the winter. I went to Douglass College, part of Rutger's University, which is only about 10 miles away. The Douglass Pool is in that area, and is part of the recreation package. Now that I am retired, I would be able to swim almost any time during the day, so it might be worth it to keep it up all year long. It is great exercise for my knees because there is no concussion, and I certainly do enjoy it.

This is the first "nearly end of the summer" when I have not felt a certain anxiety as I sensed the sun's angle in the sky. Normally, by now, when I would go outside and hear the late summer bugs chirping away or hear a flight of Canada geese pass over the thought of school would flood my emotions. I'd have a sudden sense of urgency to complete tasks or do something with the horses because I knew that soon I would have no spare time to waste. I am having a bit of trouble reprogramming my brain and reactions. Today, as I was getting in my car to head over to the pool, I checked myself and just stood for a minute drinking in the atmosphere. The sun's angle was just a little lower, the air was still, and the katydids were singing like crazy. End of summer....and it didn't matter. I have months and months ahead with no obligations except the ones I choose.

The nice thing will be being able to ride the Boys at any time during the day. So often, once school had started, I would rush home to try to get in a ride before dark or before the arena surface had frozen again on a winter afternoon. Sometimes in the morning, I'd get up a little late and then have to hurry to feed before school, rushing about to make sure I'd done all the chores to keep the Boys content for the day while I was gone.

No more. I'll be able to save some hay too, by only putting out what they eat instead of leaving huge piles during the day, trying to guess how much they need. I might even break their feeds up into four meals instead of three, who knows? And I won't have to worry about when I schedule vet or farrier appointments, because I'll be able to be here. Nice.

I did have a wacky dream about school the other night. For some reason, I went in for the first day and my replacement teacher was not there yet. When he did come in he took charge of the kids in a very unusual, but creative way. I guess I'm hoping the new teacher they hired will do me one better and really inspire the kids. I suppose no matter what I do, it's going to take a while to get over 38 years of habit.

Meanwhile I will just relish the potential freedom.