Tuesday, 7/30

 I'm back!

(And then, after a collective shrug of everyone's shoulders...)

The quick trip downstate went fine.  Or, at least, as fine as a trip for a funeral can go.  After all the official things on Thursday we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family, and tried to make a dent in all the food that was left over from the lunch after the service.

(Seriously--is that how much food every funeral lunch has?  Because there were a TON of people there and there was still enough left over that we ate nothing but leftovers throughout the weekend , following which Loraine's dad threw a bunch into the freezer)

While Loraine and varying combinations of her siblings took care of a bunch of family related things I tried to help her dad out by cooking, downloading Microsoft Word on his new computer, and doing one other thing that I actually really like doing but no one believes that I like doing--

I mowed his lawn.

It's a lot like snow shoveling, which aside from mowing lawns is something I haven't gotten to do since we moved into our current apartment 17 (gasp)  years ago.  When I did do it I had a push mower, and would tool around every little corner of whatever building in which we were living, making sure that every possible blade of grass had been snipped.

Yes, I know it's kind of a manly act and yes, I know I'm really not much of a man, but there are two things I like about lawn moving (and, by extension, snow shoveling).  The first is the geometry of it.  You have a surface, that surface needs to be cleaned, and how you approach it determines how long it will take.  If you look at it correctly, it's a puzzle.

And I like puzzles.

The second reason?  It's very Zen (which, of course, is not a very manly thing to say).  Once you've figured out your puzzle you just move the mower back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until you're done.  You get into a groove, your brain locks in, and pretty soon, your mind is cleared as you suddenly realize that you're done.

I'm pretty sure most people who mow lawns don't do it for that reason, but since when have I ever been normal, right?

So, now I'm back, and ready to start hearing farm animal impressions as our "Fairground Frenzy" contest starts today.  It's been a weird past week.

I'm kind of interested to see what the next week has in store.

(jim@wmqt.com)