Country Girl – Maybe…

I was mowing yesterday. Everything was going fine and then…. A snake a few feet away started moving! A snake!!! I screamed. I don’t like snakes. It’s not like I was even on a riding mower with some height separating me and the snake. It was a push mower, me, ground, grass, and snake. I screamed.

It took off at a pretty good speed, and I just stood there yelling at it – “Get out of the yard.” “And stay out!” The grass was moving around it and it’s black head was above the grass, navigating through the strands like a swimmer. If you don’t mind snakes, kudos to you. To me, if it’s a snake, it’s bad. I don’t care if it is poisonous or not.
The rest of the mowing time consisted of jumping at several sticks and screaming at a very frightening piece of bark that jumped out at me and of course looked very snake like. All right, it didn’t look snake like, but all I saw the movement out of the corner of my eye and that was enough. I screamed again.
I like being outside, I enjoy being out in the country. But, I don’t think I’m quite a country girl.

Peeling

I was mowing last Saturday and well, we haven’t had much sun. So, in my moment of inspiration to get a dose of Vitamin D, I doused my ball cap with water and headed out. Sunscreen? No, I want that vitamin D. Bedsides we have had buckets and buckets of water pouring from the sky lately, so the sun felt good. Tennis shoes, shorts, tank top and a water bottle in my pocket… out I went.

       A couple hours later, in I came…
With a sunburn! I didn’t notice it then, but by that evening, I was slathering my arms in aloe lotion. How I didn’t just have a semi-permanent green cast to my skin by then, I don’t know. Now, it’s been nearly a week and the peeling has begun. Yes, it’s kind of gross. But, it really hard not to just peel of those little strips of skin, then wish for a microscope to see it better. I do have the good grace not to peel in public. But, if I put on a sudden burst of speed, I’m sure I would leave a small cloud of skin cells in my path.
Okay – next time, sunscreen!

Meant to Move

A few days after a trip, with a stormy night making yesterday feel even longer, about three o’clock in the afternoon I wanted to go home and go to bed, getting some sleep. Oh sleep!!! Where is my bed? Can I just lie my head down on a conference table someplace? A banana, nearly green like I like it, and a glass of water helped. But, I knew that when I got home from work that I would need to help mow. I don’t really mind mowing on days like yesterday, with a nice breeze and without it being very hot. In fact, it’s good exercise and thinking time.

Pulling into the driving, my head was set back against the headrest. The door opened, the warm air rushed in and I just sat there. Oh, I just want to sleep. Must change clothes, must put on tennis shoes…must go hug the pillow and curl up for a quick nap. The curling up lasted seconds, the mowing started. With a water bottle tucked into my pocket, I headed out to mow. At first, my feet were dragging along with my sheer force of being forced too. Continuing on it became easier, energy came even as the grass grew shorter.
We are meant to move. We gain energy with movement, exercise, exertion. It seems contrary and rest is certainly an important and necessary thing. Progressing along, stirring in our path, we are meant to move. Step out and let’s dance down the path, or at least make ourselves finish the mowing.