Flashback, costume madness

The back yard of the property was getting very jungle-like from all of the precipitation of the last few weeks.  I have been waiting for the standing water to recede just enough so I could mow it down.  Since we are out of town for a few days I targeted last night as the time to do it, despite menacing skies that had me driving through periods of rain on the way home.

As soon as I got home I quickly changed and went out back, although light rain had already started.  Well shortly after starting the light rain became steady rain.  Thanks to the mower canopy I wasn’t getting very wet but the grass was.  Cutting through high grass is a big enough pain.  Cutting through high wet grass multiplies the mess.

I grabbed one on the bungees that we use to help keep the canopy in place and instead used it to keep the plastic chute guard in the up position.  If I didn’t do this I would be stopping every couple minutes to clear the clump of wet crass clippings clogging the exit to the deck.  Pulling the guard up allows the grass and other debris to fly out much easier.  The problem is a lot of that debris winds up getting blown back onto me.  The right side of my body quickly became covered in sand, dirt and various organic matter as the wind blew it back my way. It was pretty miserable.

For the first half of the job it was raining.  Whenever I mow in rain I flashback to a very vivid childhood memory when my dad was mowing on our large tractor at night in the middle of a tremendous thunderstorm.  I remember looking out the dining room window at the headlights of the tractor as lightning would briefly illuminate the outline of my dad at the controls as my mom commented on how stupid it was.  There is no doubt I share dad’s stubbornness when it comes to accomplishing a task once it is set in motion.

Cindy has taken over the dining room table for the last couple weeks doing extensive costume development for this weekend.  She has spent countless hours tweaking and retweaking things.  Her creativity really comes out when it comes to costume design.  I think mine will be pretty cool if I don’t drop dead from heat exhaustion while walking around.  We are bringing some alternative, less restrictive clothing for me to wear if I need a break during the con.

We hope to pull out tomorrow morning and get to enjoy Friday evening and all day Saturday at the convention.  It should be a lot of fun.