Do you ever have one of those moments where you remember something you’ve forgotten?
I’m not talking about a memory that perks up an hour later or even a few days.
Honestly, I’m pretty proud of my ability to recall important things in a workable timeframe.
But, unfortunately, a moment Saturday morning humbled me more than I expected!
Let me explain my example before I possibly confuse you any further.
Most of the time we outsource mowing the yard and doing routine yard work like weed eating – in fact, it’s been a few years.
The majority of the time, Mom has very specific ways of doing things and I’ve learned over the years to just get out of her way until she gives me the OK to lend a hand.
And all of that only works if running the newspaper doesn’t get in the way, but I thought my luck was holding better than that Saturday morning last week.
I know how much Mom prefers to have her yard mowed before any incoming rains and the forecast was promoting various predictions about thunderstorms coming with that northern front on Monday.
So, being the observant daughter who wants brownie points with Santa, I offered to help mow the larger blocks of our acreage while she and Mike covered the Wellness Matagorda County “Fun Run” event.
Well, I ended up running into a few snags with my plan.
First, it had been so long since I’d actually used our riding mower that I had trouble getting it started – I even phoned Mom for help and she sounded a bit amused on the phone when she took me through the steps.
But, things were looking up whenever I got the machine rumbling, and was able to hang up with Mom to switch my headphones to music mode and take care of business.
Well, the moment I tried to get the mower physically in motion, it died and I was left waiting on mom’s expertise to check out the mower in person.
And you might be wondering why I was waiting rather than bothering her with yet another phone call – I know what a flooded motor costs to repair on that mower so I didn’t want to risk my chances.
Once she got home, she fixed me right up and I was on my way gleefully running over ant hills and all manner of flora that was dried up!
Secondly, I had maybe a half hour’s worth of enjoyment imagining the insects scurrying for safety before the wind picked up out of the South and blew all of those wonderfully dry and scratchy grassy bits back into my face.
While I thought I could just change my direction of mowing and took to using only half the blade deck instead of the whole width – it didn’t help me much.
By the time I was ready to take a break for lunch, I had clippings everywhere – inside and outside of my clothes, in my nostrils and somehow the little itchy bits made their way into the ear cups of my headphones.
It was then I remembered why I hated mowing and decided that I’d leave a physical sticky note reminder somewhere to gear up more thoroughly – I’m thinking a dust mask, safety goggles, and work gloves could cut down on a lot of the issues I had.
But, I’ll keep you updated on whether I remember or not next time!