Posts Tagged ‘neighbors’
Got Rocks?
Our neighbors are slowly getting familiar with our peculiarities, and don’t seem all that fazed by our interest in collecting rocks. It is an easy request for them to fill, because farmers are always trying to get rid of rocks. I got a call yesterday afternoon from the man who lives just south of us, and he said the guys who rent his field have a truckload of rocks for us. They just needed to know where we wanted them.
The options on where they could deliver on our property are pretty limited by the wetness, so he had to stay on the driveway. I had him dump them on the edge of the new loop that runs around the hay shed.
There were two skid loader tractors maneuvering in the fields next door all morning, collecting rocks. One had a mesh drum that rotated, which could dig out large rocks that were still half-buried. When it got the rock up out of the ground, it would spin to drop the dirt and hold the rock.
The man who delivered the rocks said some of these have been underground for a long time. He had broken up the hard ground last fall and these rocks pushed up as a result. It will take a couple of good rainstorms (just what we need [end sarcasm]) to wash them off and allow us to see what we’ve really got here.
There is a good chance a lot of them will end up being used under the opening where that culvert is visible, in the background of this image. The others will need to be given a ride in the bucket of our tractor, back toward the area of the labyrinth.
It is a great feeling to value material that other folks are constantly trying to get rid of.
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Good Neighbors
How do you thank someone for thanking you? Some things rise beyond words. You reach a level that is ethereal. Especially when it is between really special people. Even more so when those people are your next-door neighbors. Cyndie and I are lucky to enjoy the blessing of living next door to two really great families. On Easter Sunday, Elysa and Cyndie snuck next door and placed some baskets of goodies as a surprise treat for the Skattum kids. On Saturday, the kids delivered their response in the form of still-warm, fresh-baked banana bread (with chocolate chunks!), accompanied by their priceless artwork.
We cut into it immediately for a pre-dinner indulgence. Then I had some more for dessert. It was the first thing we ate the next morning for breakfast. What a treat!!
Yesterday, with all that sunshine raining down on us, we took on a number of outdoor chores. With the variety of usual tasks demanding attention, there was really no reason for us to invent a new one. But inspiration doesn’t really follow reason. Cyndie commented about a large rock that was lying mostly out of sight among some of our trees and bushes. Suddenly, I find that we have left all other projects behind to try to dig up this rock. This spontaneous endeavor was on the fringe of even being possible, but there we were, scheming away with improvised tools and methods.
About this time, in stepped our wonderful neighbor, John Lawton, to offer a hand, a plan, and a better prying tool. Without a moment’s hesitation, John joined our rudderless effort, offering his help, regardless our not knowing where we were going with this boulder. The extreme difficulty in moving it helped to determine where we would ultimately place it. As short a distance necessary to move from out of sight to a very decorative spot on the edge of the trees.
Our simple thanks seem entirely inadequate. Good neighbors are a true blessing and we have been richly blessed.
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