Mowing

I mowed the pasture today. The grass was thick and tall and needed this cutting now, just before cold weather sets in. I like it like that – thick and tall – so that it’s clear where the last pass was and the next needs to be. The horses pretty much stayed out of the way, as they have experienced the clatter of the tractor and the tossing grass before and were not too interested. My dog ran along with me for awhile – darting here and there chasing dislodged field mice and sticking her nose into the fresh cut grass, but she grew weary and bored and eventually went back home. My wife came to the fence and called me in for lunch, I ate, and then was back out there again, alone for the rest of the day until the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon. The sight was quite spectacular as the full moon rose and lit the eastern sky while the setting sun was creating a warm orange glow in the west.

You can really be alone, mowing. No one bothers you. You are free to let your mind wander and mine did, too. I thought about all the work that needs to be done around here and all the projects I would get done if I had the time and the money. I thought about how satisfying it would be to not have a job and to really turn this place into a working farm. I thought that I would like to have chickens and goats and grow organic vegetables. Now it’s just a home for horses, dogs and cats – and us. But that’s really enough.

I’m glad to have done with the mowing. It’s been bothering me for awhile, knowing it needed doing but putting it off. But being out there, on the land, feeling the rise and fall of it and the fresh touch of fall in the air and getting it done, helped me. Helped me forget about the mess our country is in and the bills that are due and all the things I should not have done and the things not done that can never be. Somehow the land and the air and the deep woods beyond and the fresh cut grass seemed enough. Full enough for today.

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