July hot

This image is a poor two-dimensional representation of what I saw while mowing my yard this afternoon. The complete experience was one of those cherished moments when I just took in the experience of livin' in the heart of a hot summer day. Something about the quality of the sunlight illuminating (and baking) powerlines against the backdrop of a spreading locust canopy. I could smell the creosote from the utility pole, hear a sprinkler spraying and birds flitting about, smell the warm, green scent of fresh-cut grass, taste the sweat and enveloping hot air. You kinda had to be there, and I was.

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Ah, it's been a long day. I worked steadily and relatively hard for most of it. As of 7:15 p.m. my watch tells me I've logged about 17 miles all together. That included mowing thistle as well as mowing lawn, walking fence lines to replace clips and staples, hauling sprinkler and hose in the yard, and some fine tuning on stock tank upkeep. Anyway, as I sit here trying to get my writer to compose an informative and perhaps even readable post, I'm a bit weary.

Seventeen miles is about the most I ever do in a hard day's labor, but I do that fairly frequently, at least once a week in the summer.

And speaking of summer, it was hot out today. July hot. The high was 101. It hit 90 at 10:30 and is still presently 91. It was at or above 100 from 2-6. So yeah, July hot.

As I sit here now, hot and tired and sweaty and more than a little bit old-guy sore, I can't help but think about how very, very blessed I am to be physically able and constitutionally willing to put in a day's useful physical labor. I'm not sure what else to say about that. I have a deep sense of satisfaction. I do not have any feeling of pride. I'm just doing what needs to be done the way it needs to be done. Which is what an ape-lizard should be doing. It's not really about the physical aspect, it's about executing the responsibilities on my plate. I'm very grateful that my body retains the capacity to be useful in this way. Not everyone enjoys the same great good fortune as I.

So I guess, in a nutshell, I try hard to appreciate days like today.

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Here's a typically disjointed video. This one is about Canada thistle. Mostly.

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From the other side of the veil, she reaches back and brings beauty to the real physical part of this existence.

What else did I expect?

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Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.