This and That Thursday

Add a rooster crowing, and you get the picture.

It was the early-morning scene on this Thursday as I walked out to get the paper. 

Clouds are taking over the sky, and cooler temps are reminding me that turtleneck weather may not be far away.

I did see, however, that next week, after the predicted rain, we're supposed to have several days of fair weather in the 70s.

I'll take it. 

For now, I'm enjoying the thought of not having rivers of sweat rolling down my face and neck while doing my outside projects.  

My sister likes that sweat cuz she says there always comes a moment when a slight breeze will blow in, hit the perspiration and give the sensation of cooling off.

Still, sweat is a nuisance in my mind, so I don't miss it.  

Actually, I should be saying "glow" cuz, after all, "a horse sweats, a man perspires and a woman glows."  

Somebody taught me that long ago, but I seldom use the expression, and I never think of myself as glowing.  

It's sorta like human gas emissions sometimes being referred to even more euphemistically as "fluffs."

Well, it's Thursday, and the week has sped by quickly, as they all seem to do.

My big "good news" headline again yesterday had to do with a good ride on a horse.  In this case, it was Lefty.  

We enjoyed a very nice session on the road, around the yard and in one of the pastures.  

I didn't stay on the road long because yesterday huge utility trucks, hauling gravel and back hoes, etc. to some neighborhood project were passing by with regularity.  And, they're noisy. 

Still, Lefty took everything in his stride, and we had no dancing or sideways jumps.

The bad news headline from yesterday came in the form of a $350 check written to my lawnmower repairman.  It was the second such output this week.  

Two nights ago, ten minutes in to using the mower he'd just fixed and maintained, I backed up and heard a loud crunchy noise.

The mower stopped.  As I restarted it, and tried to engage the blades, it died three times.

So, I took it back to where it had been repaired earlier in front of the shop.

Turns out the deck, which Tony had welded a couple of years ago had had enough.  It had broken in several places---- from wear and tear. 

So, this morning we have a brand-new deck on our mower and an additional fix on our push weed eater.

We discussed with Tony last night how our society is gradually drifting away from the "throw-away" attitude of the decade before.  

It's expensive to fix stuff but a whole lot more expensive to buy the new item.

So, I have a riding lawnmower, which sells these days for $1,800-$2,000, fully repaired and like new for $600.  

That knowledge makes the sting a little more soothing.

We also have a back-up in topnotch shape and a weed eater, which had gone for five years without a repair, ready to serve. 

~~~~

I've got apples to peel and tomatoes to pick this morning. 

So, I'll say good bye and wish you a nice Thursday wherever you are.