I'm not quite sure why I'm sitting here sipping a hot cup of java and writing a blog on the computer when I have so many things that need doing. I'd like to be working on the baby-barn's conversion into an art studio today but until I get a suitable window and the stairway to the loft built, which George Probst is thankfully helping me with, plus buy some more materials; it's on hold. I could be working on expanding the chicken coop but I'm holding off on that one until I see how much materials are remaining, when the baby-barn renovations have been completed. Yeah, those are two of my major jobs and I won't go into the other tasks - guess that's what I get for moving out in the boonies on 50 acres of semi-wilderness land - a beautiful piece of property I might add. Despite the hard work, the aches and pains, I really like this bit of paradise at the base of Green Mountain that my wife Sarah and I chose after looking at so many other places in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
I cut the lawn yesterday, using an old electric lawn mower, which is usually about a 2 hour non-stop job. It was a hot day; I sweat so hard, my shirt was like a second skin; the mosquitoes simply stabbed their long, needle-sharp proboscises right through it and filled up on my high-octane blood. But I didn't care, being the stubborn old macho bastard, even at almost age 71, I sometimes consider myself to be, I swatted a few of the kamikaze flying fiends to a squash and burn death. However, being a hot and sunny day and not feeling the need to work so hard, after about 3/4 of the way mowing, I decided to have an ice cold beer that I'd put in the freezer just for that occasion. So, what could be nicer than sitting in the shade sipping an ice cold beer on a hot day and what could possibly go wrong - it's highly unlikely, although outer space just beyond our fragile biosphere is cluttered with junk, a piece of it would enter our atmosphere and fall on the house or on my head. No, I was in my own little world enjoying myself when I happened to glance over at the barnyard and watched, to my utter amazement, our Great Pyrenees dog Luki (about the same size as me) squeeze through the fence that a chicken barely fits through. When I called to him, he just ambled over, wagging his tail and I thought to myself, I don't think he'll go anywhere, just wander around taking a pee here and there, marking his territory, which is probably a good thing since some of the forest animals at times think we're on their menu, but I was wrong. When I resumed cutting the lawn, I could see him nosing around here and there, his big tale wagging because he was so happy to get out of the pasture, so I just concentrated on the job at hand. Well, with only about 10 minutes remaining to cut the lawn, already looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a second bottle of ice cold beer, a woman drove into our driveway and told me Luki was on the road, almost at the top of Green Mountain. And sure enough, a white dog, the size of a polar bear's cub was not hard to pick out. The first time I called to him, almost yelling my beer-filled guts out, he just kept on ambling up the steep hill. I was about to give up and just wait for my wife to come home in the truck so we could go fetch him, but thought, no, I'll try one more time. Cupping my hands around my mouth and yelling as loud as I could, I was amazed to see him turn around and actually start running towards me at a fast pace. Instead of getting angry at him when he arrived, what was the point; he wouldn't have understood my reasoning; thinking he wouldn't go any where again, I just sat and petted him for a short while. I guess thinking the grass wasn't any greener on the other side of Green Mountain, he decided to check out the road in the other direction and started heading down it; ignoring my frantic calls to return. I immediately sent Sarah's youngest daughter Jessica after him on her bicycle, while I grabbed a long piece of rope and another bicycle. When I caught up to them, three vehicles were stopped on the road; luckily one of them was Sarah's and she was holding onto Luki. Even before finishing mowing the lawn, needless to say, I remedied the hole from which Luki made his escape; I just hope he doesn't figure out that the mesh around the pasture is the same width.
At the moment, it's raining - probably just a wee shower. I'd like to believe it's this cloudy weather that's making me feel a wee touch melancholy but sometimes, like now, at this late in life stage, I wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing. Frustration could be the answer or maybe because I'm quite old, much of my get-up-and-go has fled to parts unknown, I sometimes wonder if I've done and am doing the right thing. In so many ways I feel incompetent and as hard as I may, trying to discourage some of the thoughts that occasionally run rampant through the semi-empty corridors of my mind, like a pot of water, they begin to boil and overflow. Perhaps it's the middle of the week blues I'm experiencing and if that's the case, time to give my skinny ass a good kick and get on with the remainder of the day - cheers, eh!
No comments:
Post a Comment