You know how I was mentioning that ticks are smarter than I thought? That they will pay attention to wherever you’ve been and go there hoping that you will return?
Little bugger was on my shoe in the morning.
😎
Sneaky.
Every night I put my shoes on the top of my laundry bin (just a large storage bin that I keep right outside Rover’s driver’s door). And as I went to reach for my shoes, they’re sitting right at the rim of my shoe where my foot slides in was a nice, big, lone Star tick.
Needless to say, she will not be reproducing.
I got the burn barrel going again, not hard, as it’s completely full of hot coals pretty much all the time.
I started sorting through stuff, the last major pile of stuff from the garage. Probably half of it is my stuff already, so that helps in the sorting process.
My mom came to help, and I was grateful for that. It was very hot, hotter than the brutal day yesterday, with two exceptions. First, even though it was in the mid-90s as compared to yesterday’s high ’80s, it was much much drier heat today. Yesterday was a suffocating sauna. Today it was A lot drier. Second, there was a pretty stiff wind most of the day, which was what made it bearable.
Not really worth the effort it takes to go through all that stuff. For the amount of time that I’ve spent sorting through things, I could have bought everything brand new over again, maybe even twice.
The Only thing is that since you haven’t gone through it, you’re not exactly sure what you have and don’t have, and you don’t want to accidentally, or at least I don’t, want to get rid of something that I wanted to keep that might be harder to replace.
That, and it’s still something that I haven’t gotten through my head very well that it really is just worth it to just give it all away and start over.
Life lessons that I need to make a mental note of, so my decision is made in advance, and I don’t have to think about it.
Of course, the fact that I’m stretched far beyond what my mental health is capable of handling means that the extra time it takes to go through this stuff is a big deal instead of just another thing.
Anyway, I alternated back and forth between jordan and cleaning up the area a bit. Even though it takes longer to get done, it’s just hard for me sometimes to stay focused on the same thing when it’s a larger project. It’s that old saying: A change is as good as a break.
Thanks to Jim and Landon, my weed eater is actually working. 🥳
So I pulled it out and started weed eating the area around the greenhouse where the weeds are really tall.
Foolish me didn’t have my safety goggles on, and I took a piece of weed right in the eye. Of course, just so happened to be one that I was allergic to, so my eye lids swelled up, my eyeball started swelling up…
Joyous.
I was able to flush out whatever was in there, but it was still a little swollen, I think many hours later when I went to bed.
I kept weed eating, but not until I found a pair of safety goggles 🙃 I also started cutting down the saplings that were growing inside the greenhouse itself.
Little by little, I’m making progress.
Mom helped with the cleanup for a while, and then she had to go do some things. She came by again later ready to clean out the basement, so I went over with her and helped clean the basement, the last thing she needed to do to be done with the place. 🙏
I also sold my mom safe, so only a few more things that need to be sold and given away for me to be done done.
Well, I still have to finish making that list of important things for them To know about taking care of the house and property and everything.
And then I think I’ll be done. 🙃
After getting all that done with Mom, I was running some errands around the hill a little bit when I noticed that Rafe and Rhett were putting the mulch in the dog run. I had had gotten most of it dumped over into the dog run, but there was still a lot left to do. I had left them with some stuff to finish the job, but seeing them working on it, I went over and helped them finish it up.Rafe had been working on it for like 4 hours.
After helping with that, I went back and continued sorting through stuff, this time mostly my own stuff. I got the trailer loaded up, this time with a lot less stuff than what I’ve had in the past to put in the barn. Once again, Jim was there to help unload the trailer into the barn.
Thanks, Jim. He’s a wonderful person.
By the time I was done with the day, I was sweaty and soaked and covered in dust and dirt, so I drove on down to the creek, took myself a little bath–feeling quite clean and refreshed (yeah, I’m sure it doesn’t sound very clean, but it feels clean to me 😆), And then I rushed off to Pea Ridge in the hopes of catching the AutoZone before they closed so I could return a couple of parts.
I was 2 minutes late. 🙃
I saw my mom pulling out of the grocery store well I was getting gas. We chatted briefly, while she also decided to get gas. I’m grateful to my mom, as it’s my assignment to bring fruit for the Saturday morning get together meal for the family reunion, but of course, living in my Van, I don’t have a refrigerator to keep the fruit in. So I gave my mom money, and she bought the fruit for me.
Thanks, Mom!!!
Though the wind had made it a lot more comfortable, my van was brutally hot on the inside. Probably well over 90°. My fan barely made it halfway tolerable 🥵
Oh well. Lots of people around the world have it as bad or worse. It’s a good experience to be uncomfortable. It’s a good experience to be able to commiserate with others.
At least that’s what I believe.
Helped today to be working with my mom, she helping me, and I helping her. Morale booster.
Definitely a better day today than yesterday. Doesn’t change all the underlying things, but a lot less extra stuff pressing down today.
Lift the World.
~ stephen
Lift the World 