Thankful For My Trivial Problems

Rain came back this afternoon before I got my back yard mowed. I seem to have killed two mowers so far this season. There are three push mowers here and you would think that we could build one that would not defy me when I am using it. Can't seem to start the heavy duty, cantankerous one with the loud Honda motor. It is hard to handle and it infuriates me when a mere man starts it right up after I have made several attempts. When I do get it started, I am loathe to turn it off unless I need fuel. I tip it up on the back wheels to allow me to cross the roads to get to my trees and gardens without mowing gravel. The kinder, easier to handle mower will start right up for me ..... just won 't stay started. He Who is supposed to maintain these things involving gas and oil muttered something about a carburetor, then went on about his business. I am not a happy mower.

So, with the rain coming down I am standing in my kitchen. Washing cabinet doors and combining the three bottles of ketchup into one, while roasting half a chicken, making dog food for my toothless old guy, baking chocolate chip cookies, and listening to an audio book. High volume to hear over the whining dachshund. He always seems to know when I am cooking his stuff. I hear a commotion outside and think to myself that the rain is really pounding the roof. So much so that I stop and look out the window, then the back door. It is not raining hard at all, so I can only assume it is He Who loves loud equipment playing around on the trencher.

He has been burying conduit and filling potholes in the roads. Oh, and digging around in the pond. Don't know why, didn't ask. We seem to have some leaks in the pond wall. Must be some crazy muskrat love going on in there. Maybe he has decided to dig them out. He has been seen out on the bank of the pond at dusk, shot gun in hand, hunting the diggers of our pond. Makes Elmer Fudd come to mind in his quest for Bugs Bunny.

So, I was surprised to see him suddenly in the kitchen about 30 minutes later, wondering if I had heard all the commotion outside. He even paused my book to talk to me. I nod that I did hear and wait to hear what calamity might have befallen him and the big toy he was riding on all day.

Now I wish he hadn't come in and told me at all. It was a helicopter landing close by. A life-flight. Seems a couple had checked into the state park down the road and the man ran over his wife while trying to back their trailer into the site. I feel sick. That poor man has to be in an awful state. Makes me stop and be thankful for everything I have. All my irritations of the day seem pretty trivial.