Blades, Guns, And Archery Hickeys

Our son Travis came over yesterday to help me change the blades on my Kubota tractor’s mid-mount mower. What was supposed to be an easy job proved a bit difficult starting out, but we got it done. Well, almost.

We started out by jacking the front end of the tractor up and putting jack stands under the axle, which allowed Travis to reach under the mower far enough to remove the first blade without much effort. But when he went to replace it with the new blade, it didn’t want to tighten up. We finally figured out that putting a block of wood between the blade and the frame of the mower held everything in place so he could complete the job.

After that, it wasn’t all that terrible replacing the other two blades, and I assumed we would be good to go. But alas, I was wrong, as usual. When I hit the stump with the mower a few days ago, it also tore up some of the metal on the inside of the mower body, which caused the third blade to dig into it. So I need to get an angle grinder so we can cut that piece away and give the blade clearance.

Somebody asked why I didn’t just put the mower on the trailer and take it to Tuscaloosa Tractor and let them repair it. It’s almost 35 miles to get there, their shop is always busy, so I would have to leave it and wait for a mechanic to be able to get to it, and shop rates are not exactly cheap. Besides, working on projects like this gives Travis and I a chance to bond.

Since we had done all we could with the mower for now, we decided to do a little bit of shooting. This was my first time to use the range since we put up the backstop, and it was fun to burn up some ammo. I’m sure we will be doing more of that before too long.

Back when I was a youngster, I had a neighbor named Pete Starkey who was an amazing archer and he taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow pretty well. I always enjoyed it and used to shoot quite a lot, but I’ve been away from it for more than 30 years now and I was wanting to get back into it. So after Travis went home, I decided to try out the new Bear Legit compound bow that Terry bought me for my birthday.

Archery equipment has come a long way since the days of the old recurve bows I learned to shoot with, and I’ve definitely got a lot to learn. My first few shots missed the target completely, and Terry had to help me find the arrows that were hiding in the grass. That proved to be quite a difficult task. I knew that Alli was good at chasing balls, frisbees, and her Kong toys, but when she found one of the arrows, I thought that was an added bonus.

Another added bonus, even if it wasn’t a great one, was this big welt I got on the inside of my left arm when the bowstring hit me a couple of times. Note to self: Get an arm guard because those archery hickeys really hurt!

While I was playing most of the day, Terry was busy doing all kinds of things inside the house in preparation for her parents coming to visit soon, including vacuuming, washing linens, and swapping mattress around. That girl never stops. Besides doing all that, helping me look for lost arrows, and finding some more peppers in her raised vegetable beds, she also made a delicious dinner last night of venison tenderloin and smashed red potatoes, with steamed fresh broccoli for her. Yummy to the max!

Today is your last chance to enter our Free Drawing for an audiobook of THE CHESAPEAKE: Tidewater Sagas, a collection of short stories of the shared memories of those who lived life to the fullest in the Chesapeake region, donated by my friend Ken Rossignol.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn this evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

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.

Thought For The Day – The perfect moment will never arrive. Stop waiting for it and do it now.