Friday the Thirteenth

Image by www.jonco48.com


Yesterday was Friday the thirteenth. I did not realize this until today, the fourteenth. I will put forth the activities from my day yesterday, and let you decide if there is any credence to the superstition about Friday the Thirteenth.

1. I got on my tractor and headed to the highest point on the property. The road on the downhill side has been caving in practically since the day we bought this place. Do you think there is any connection??

Anyway, I had the bush-hog connected to the back of the tractor in order to mow the overgrowth down, so I could see where the terra firma ended in the ditch. I mowed, and then started scooping up dirt and dumping it in the ditch-that-reaches-to-China.

I had scooped and dumped about 12 loads (a drop in the ocean) when the bush-hog tilted dangerously. Upon inspection, I realized that one of the spring-loaded, can't-ever-come-off, not even when I want it to, pins was missing and the mower was not connected to one of the arms required to lift it up.

Image by www.ukrainetzauction.com

I searched and searched, but no pin. I had to improvise with a piece of flimsy chain and a clip, just to drive the tractor back to the shop building. It was a very slooooooooow drive.

2. I parked the tractor, returned to the house and jumped in the shower with the water set at the coldest setting. It wasn't actually cold. When I got out and toweled off, I notice that a mosquito had gained access to my bra while I was searching for the missing mower pin. And it BIT ME!! Twice. Once on each side. Umm... very close to a sensitive milk-producing gland.

I am trying not to embarrass myself and those I am with, if the urge to scratch strikes me while out in public.

3. Also as I emerged from the not-cold-enough shower, Stud Muffin arrived to tell me that not moments after I drove the tractor up our road and onto the blacktop drive, a giant tree came crashing down across the road I was just on. Driving very slooowly.



It's a big tree. It would have squashed me like the bug I am.



Of course, now I (well, Stud Muffin and I) need to cut the tree up before we can use the road again. Probably tomorrow, hopefully before the temperature exceeds 100 degrees.

Now, let's consider whether this indicates that Friday the Thirteenth portends bad luck.

If I hadn't taken the tractor up the hill, I wouldn't have cleared the brush and noticed that the cave-in is now deep enough to see all the way through to the other side of the planet. It was like taking an exotic mini-vacation without the airplane ride.

The mosquito wouldn't have mysteriously gained access to the girls as I hunted for the missing pin, and I imagine he/she/it had a raging good time in there! I'm not sure I feel the same.

If the mower hadn't gone cattywumpus on me, I would have stayed up the hill working until after the tree fell, and I couldn't have gotten the tractor back to the shop building where I could replace the pin. Or I could have been crushed by the tree.

So, you decide. Good luck or bad luck?? All I know is that Nick doesn't care one way or the other. But don't you just love the way he sleeps on the sofa?? He's going out for the US Diving team next season.




Edit: Got the tree cut up this morning. I manned the chainsaw, while Stud Muffin positioned the blocks and hauled the cut chunks over to the house to be split at a later time. We only cut the portion that was blocking the road, because I didn't feel like battling the blackberry thorns for the rest of it!



Big sucker, huh?



No! Not my hand...the tree!!