We are blessed at our place with several pecan trees that have produced a nice crop of nuts this year.
So my better half gets excited when the pecans begin falling and decides that each one must be picked up.
OK, so I begin – with some help from MaLinda and Jessica – and find my back isn’t equal to the task of bending over.
I even got some help from a recent wind storm that incredibly blew the pecans on the driveway into convenient piles.
Anyway, so I rake up piles of pecans and sit down to sort things out.
All the while I’m telling MaLinda we need a pecan picker upper – to use pecan technical jargon, but you get the picture.
Friday was a big day indeed.
MaLinda’s online purchase of a picker upper has arrived.
It’s basically a large plastic roller with dimples that pluck the pecan from the ground and deposits them into a wire basket.
It works all right, I suppose, the roller also picks up twigs, sticks and leaves that have be pulled out so the pecans can flow freely into the basket.
I works – that’s the important
back-saving message here.
But alas we’re coming to end of the trees’ pecan drop.
So the next task is finding a push mower space for the new contraption.
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This is Thanksgiving week and we have much to be thankful for.
My youngest son lives in Los Angeles where he can walk to work and hasn’t been in Texas for a while.
He was here last week, his first visit to Matagorda County in a decade.
We headed down to Matagorda to eat at Poco, followed by a trip to Matagorda Beach.
First thing was walking down the pier at Jetty Park then over to the public access beach.
Well, there was a problem at the entrance, with ankle-deep loose unpacked sand presenting a nightmare for vehicles entering or leaving.
There were two large pickup trucks stuck and another truck trying to help, so we walked, talking about things past.
It was a wonderful visit for me.
Even though we’re apart for long stretches, Ben and I have always communicated well – teenage years included.
He’s 41 and entering middle age now and I tried to help him sort things out.
Time flies and he left the next day, but we made a great connection and left thankful for the week devoted to thankfulness.