More Storm Damage

It was about 10 degrees cooler yesterday. Not that 88 is necessarily cool, but it dropped the heat index down considerably. So much so that I was able to go out and throw a ball for Alli for quite a while without giving either one of us heat stroke.

She was spayed a week ago today, and we could take her back to the vet to get the stitches out, except that they’re closed for Independence Day. So we’ll take her back sometime later this week. She is doing fine, and except for being understandably pretty lethargic the day of the procedure, she came through it with no problems. The biggest challenge has been keeping her relatively calm because she likes to run and play so much.

Later in the afternoon I used the tractor and brush hog to mow along the sides of the road leading back to the barn because the grass was starting to get pretty high there again. Alli loves to run along beside the tractor and I’m always careful that she doesn’t cross in front of me and get injured.

Due to the excessive heat and muddiness from all of the storms, yesterday was the first chance I’ve had to get to the back of our property. Once I was done mowing, I took the Kawasaki Mule along the south perimeter road to see how are things were back there. I didn’t get far before I realized that there was also a lot of storm damage I wasn’t aware of in that part of the acreage. A big tree was down, blocking the road.

There was a little semi-cleared area where the kids of the previous owners of the property had a makeshift fort, sort of their own little wilderness playground. One tree was snapped off, and at least two trees in that area were completely uprooted and toppled over, but at least the little fort survived.

I’m going to have to put the new Stihl chainsaw to work getting everything cut and cleared up. Several people have suggested I get a pair of chainsaw chaps, which are designed to protect your legs when using a saw so that you don’t get injured. Don’t worry, I bought those the same day I bought the saw. Our son Travis insisted on it, and he knows a lot more about these things than I do.

While I will be cutting up all of the downed trees and limbs, we have one or two trees that are partially broken and hanging down. I have no intention of trying to do anything with them, that’s way above my pay grade. I will call in a professional to take care of them. As they said in the old Dirty Harry movies, a man’s got to know his limitations.

I also ordered an Earthquake 33968 K32 wood chipper/shredder, which is supposed to be delivered later this week. It will chip branches up to three inches in diameter, as well as turning smaller branches and leaves into mulch that Terry and Travis can both use in their gardens. With so much downed wood here and on his property, it seemed like a good investment.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I used the feel this way driving our old MCI bus conversion at times.

Thought For The Day – In love, and life, and your career, know when something is over and it’s time to move on.