Back when I was a kid...

Earlier this week one of my boys (anonymous:) asked if we could get a riding lawnmower this year. I kindly reminded him that it only takes a half hour to mow our yard and that it would take twice that long to turn a rider around. Then he asked if we could get the front yard rolled since it's bumpy sometimes and hard to mow. After this second attempt I saw my opening to share my story of growing up with a "When I was a kid" story. Sonya saw the setup coming, rolled her eyes, and knew he'd asked for it. I then began to wax eloquent on mowing my yard growing up. It took 8 hours to mow our yard with only a push mower and that there was hardly a flat section to it. My parents thought riding lawnmowers were introduced by the Communists to try and weaken the strength of the American worker. (OK, they never said that or even believed that, but it was the only logical reason I could come up with)

But even better than another one of my childhood stories to bless my children with was our trip to Quincy for a couple of days this week to share the joys of real yardwork with them in person. Mom and Dad are celebrating 50 years on the old homestead (17 acres, 15 now that they changed the highway) and the old yard had become a little too much. So all us kids are trying to give a few weekends this year to get the yard back up to snuff and keep it healthy and strong. 6 hours of mowing and 8 hours of raking (times 7 of us) and we're almost 75% done! Lots of mud, sore muscles and a few blisters, but hopefully I won't hear the bumpy yard complaint for a while.

I took a few pictures to give you a piece of my "When I was a Kid" story.

Here's a picture form across Hwy 96. The trees will really fill in during the summer.


Here's a closer picture. They rebuilt the highway on this stretch a couple years ago. Don't even get mom started about the workers who put all these rocks here...

This is the cliff that runs along the backside of our property. It's probably a couple hundred feet high here and overlooks Burton Creek. The creek is running high and muddy with all the rain. I think it's bigger than the Kishwaukee River in Sycamore on a good day though.


Here's an old road that runs up the backside of our property along side of the cliff. The cliff is about 40 feet to the left just over the ridge.

Did I mention how long it took to mow the yard with a push mower when I was a kid? And that was before these fancy wheel drive push mowers too.....

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Scripture of the Day: Ephesians 6:2-3 2 "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

Quote of the Day: "Go the extra mile, it's never crowded." Unknown