Back in January, when it was roughly 300 degrees colder and there was snow on the ground, I inadvertently created driveway art.
Welp, completely different season – and the John Deere rather than the Hyundai – but same outcome:
Looks like I was doing donuts in the yard, huh? It really just illustrates how haphazardly I cut the grass with my riding mower. No back-and-forth straight lines for this guy!
It’s pretty annoying actually. I don’t need to keep up with the Joneses, but I’d prefer a yard that wasn’t marred by deep grooves and muddy ruts. It’s just as bad out back.
I was not expecting this when I cut the grass Saturday morning. The ground is absolutely saturated after all the rain we’ve had (6.5″ in August alone and we’re only halfway through the month), so the John Deere was practically sinking into the lawn, and every time I made a turn – which was pretty often, as evidenced by these pics – JD would struggle to find purchase and slide sideways. I normally find cutting the grass to be therapeutic, but I was so focused on not destroying the lawn yesterday, it was the opposite of relaxing. I was glad to be done with it all. And my timing was perfect, because shortly after finishing, the sky grew dark and thunder began rumbling. The rest of the afternoon we had on-and-off storms.
August has been pretty wild, that’s for sure. My parents are arriving this week for their second and final visit of the year, and I was worried the weather wouldn’t cooperate (especially after their last visit, which was either blazing hot or cool and rainy, preventing us from playing bags even once). But it appears Mother Nature will be playing nice; they’re here from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Sunshine? Upper 60s-low 70s?! Sounds damn near perfect to me. We may actually get to hang out on the deck this time! And the break in the rain will be welcome. As much as I enjoy a good donut, I’m hoping the ground will dry out enough so I don’t tear up the yard next time I cut the grass.
Fantasizing About Outboard Motors Again
Not long ago, I made the mistake of saying to Tara, “I kinda wish we had a boat.”
“Shut up!” Tara replied. And not in a funny/surprised way like you sometimes hear a person say when they receive unexpected news, like,
“Hey, Taylor Swift is dropping a new album this week.”
“Shut up!“
My wife meant this in the traditional sense i.e., I’d better close my mouth and never utter such nonsense again.
Because we had a boat once…and took it out on the water a grand total of one time in two years. (Well, twice if you count the time we drove it to the lake, launched it into the water, turned the key, and it wouldn’t start because of a dead battery. Oopsie.) She spent most of her time parked on the street in front of our house, which I’m sure the neighbors loved. Even if you’ve never owned a boat, you probably have an inkling that they are a lot of work. Geez Louise, just hitching the trailer to the pickup was a stressful ordeal every time. It didn’t help that our street was on a hill and the boat didn’t fit in the driveway. So, we sold her in 2022.
Three months later, we moved to Wisconsin. And bought a house on a level street, with a bonus parking pad. In a town that’s bisected by the Rock River.
You see where I’m going with this, right…?
And okay, no, we are not getting a boat again. I’m happy with kayaking! But every once in a while, I see people boating on the river, and can’t help but think how fun that would be. Honestly, if I’d known in May 2022 that we would be moving to Wisconsin in August 2022, I might have kept the boat. The move still seemed pretty far-fetched at the time (that’s how quickly the whole thing came together!), and we knew if it happened, the cash would come in handy. Plus, the logistics of getting the boat from Rapid City to Fort Atkinson would have been a nightmare, requiring two separate trips. I know we made the right decision…
…but again, with all this space, and a beautiful river and boat launch just minutes from home, I know we would have gotten out on the water a lot more than we ever did in South Dakota.
Hindsight, blah blah blah.
Anyway, Tara has warmed up to the idea of buying a small travel trailer in a couple of years, which in my opinion is much better than a boat. And that will definitely get used.
Mark My Words 
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