Mow by sonar, same stress

So in anticipation of my dad’s visit in a week or so I wanted to get the back of the yard mowed.  I wasted no time when I got home, changing into mowing clothes, gassing up the tractor and getting busy.  When it comes to the backyard, the longer you go in between mowings the larger time penalty you pay.  The grass was dense and over knee high in spots meaning I had to go at a snail’s pace over a large section of the property.  The slow pace combined with the diminishing amount of daylight meant I finished up pretty much in complete darkness.

The low/no light conditions were tough to deal with since the tractor headlights have a loose connection, meaning they come on and off randomly.  I was leaning forward and smacking the hood like the Fonze, trying to get them to come back on at times.  I am sure it looked ridiculous.  Of course you couldn’t see me anyway, it was too dark.

I have other grounds prep I want to get done before my dad, step mom and their dogs show up.  I will have to try to work most of it in this weekend since they are scheduled to show up next Friday.  We are going to have to come up with a game plan as far as the chickens go as well.  I love Dad’s two dogs, Maggie and Clara.  Maggie is very docile and I don’t think she would threaten the chickens.  Clara is a hunter that loves to chase/kill animals smaller than her. Because of this we are going to have to either keep the dogs on leash if they are in the backyard or keep the chickens in the coop when the dogs are out there.  I would like to see how they react to one another but I certainly won’t risk any danger to our chicks in the process.

So I have my last timing gig coming up on Saturday.  Even though the race is very small with more walkers than runners, I can feel the same anxiety and stress creeping in that I became accustomed to over the last decade of my life.  I have the mental checklists running through my head, trying to make sure that whatever I need to do gets done.  From a technical standpoint, the actual timing of the race should be very simple with the small numbers and only running a single timing box at the finish line and none at the start.  However we do also have to set up the other associated equipment, including the big inflatable arch.

When the last runner crosses the finish line on Saturday I will exhale one last sigh of relief, glad to have the race timer portion of my life in the rear view mirror.  I’d love to be able to immediately sell my race equipment but I actually am loaning some of it out over the next couple months to some friends so I need to hold onto it until then.  If I am lucky by the time Christmas rolls around it will all be gone and we will have reclaimed a large chunk of space from our third bedroom, garage and storage sheds.