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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >Now to get that tractor ready. I should have got a scythe!
> 

This morning at dawn,  like the last several mornings, I have repaired to the 
hay fields and mowed grass.  About an hour or hour and half is all one can 
endure even if one is in pretty good shape.  But it's enough.  The biggest 
hayfield is located way in the front by the paved county road.  Just across 
the 
road is the long finger of property (about 60' wide) that is the outer 
extreme of 
a neighbor's property.  He, said neighbor, has no use for the hay so another 
neighbor mows it with a tractor and bales it.  He is not skillful and the 
terrain is not even with the reslult that when he hauls away his round bales, 
there is a quarter of the mown grass left.  I take my two wheeled cart and 
rake 
and fork and glean it.  If I can get  to it before it spoils, it's looking 
like 
a ton of hay within easy reach.

This morning I mowed a triangle left from where the road begins to rise from 
the front flats toward the sort of plateau or shoulder where the gardens are 
located.  It is 180' long and tapers to 30' wide.  The grass there is just 
exactly ripe but the grass above it (between garden plots) and below it (on 
the 
flats) is not prime.  So I mowed the prime.  It took about 40 minutes and by 
the 
time I finished the sun was well cleared of the tree tops and it began to get 
hot.  

Then the mowing machine had to be refuled so I made my way back up the 
hillside to the corn tortillas, eggs scrambled in butter, and cheese - all 
100% from 
the place and scarcely think I put back all the calories expended in the 
mowing.  I feel pretty good right now and I will retreat into my subterranean 
shop 
for most of the day, until it gets cool in the evening.

Yes, Rob, you shoulda got a scythe.   </HTML>