Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Fools and Children

Me and everyone on the ranch who was smarter than me.
(except Dad who was taking the picture. . .)
I was nine! I made it! I could do anything!I was supergirl!
As you may have guessed, nine years old was an important time in my family.
The time when one was moved up to the next level of responsibility.
Now I could do all of the cool things that my older brothers and sister could do. Things I'd been waiting years to do.
Wonderful 'adult' things like . . . mowing the lawn.
Odd, isn't it, how exciting and attractive something looks when someone else is doing it?
And how not-exciting and not-attractive it is when suddenly, it is your responsibility?
By the second time, the thrill of mowing our acres and acres of lawn had begun to pall.
In fact, I hated it.
Maybe if there were such a thing as a riding mower, I could have retained my enthusiasm.
But the fact was that we only had a small, electric mower. And you had to push that little cretin every square foot of the way.
Oh, and watch out for the cord, but I am getting ahead of myself.
My instructions were very specific. Always start at or near the plug-in. Then work away from it in rows.
And rows and rows and rows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sorry! Got caught up in the memory . . .
Needless to say, my mind didn't stay focused on what I was doing.
In fact, it rather wandered. A bit.
One bright, sunny summer afternoon, when my horse and I could have been a small dot on the horizon, I was, once more, pushing that wretched mower.
But it wasn't all bad. Part of me - the thinking part - was off riding. Suddenly, I was rudely made aware of just why we are supposed to keep our minds at least in the vicinity of what we are doing.

The mower . . . quit.
Just like that.
Dead.
There were some tell-tale sparks in the lawn, if one cared to look, but other than that, the stupid thing had just suddenly become lifeless.
I narrowed my eyes and began my investigation.
Aha! A cord. That just . . . ended. Snapped off as though it had been . . . cut. I searched around for the other end. There it was! Lying in the grass! Now how do you suppose . . .
The truth hit me like one of Dad's yearling bulls. I had done the unspeakable. The unpardonable.
I HAD MOWED THE CORD.
Soon, if Dad found out, I was going to be as dead as this mower.
I had to fix it.
I grabbed the two ends. Maybe if I just put them back together, they will magically join . . .
I sometimes wonder just how many guardian angels I wore out during my growing up years on the ranch. I think I went through them at an alarming rate.
But they were good at what they did.
There was an enormous explosion and a First-of-July amount of sparklers.
I dropped those two ends like they were hot.
Which they probably were.
And headed for my dad.
He just shook his head and followed me to the scene of the crime. Then he unplugged the live end of the cord (funny that I didn't think of that) and with a few quick strokes and some electrician's tape, mended everything.
Good as new.
I sat there in the un-mown grass and watched him work.
He got to his feet. "Okay, Diane, back to work. And watch the cord a bit more carefully."
I stared up at him.
After that traumatic experience he was going to make me get 'back on the horse'? (Something I would loved to have done, in reality.)
He smiled and turned away.
He was! He actually meant for me to start mowing again!
I looked at the couple of swaths I had completed.
Then at the millions of swaths left to do.
I reached out and tentatively flipped the switch. My trusty little cohort hummed into life.
Sigh.
I started pushing.
Okay. Careful of the cord. Always keep it between you and the plug-in. Be watchful. Be wary . . .
Oooh! Look at that hill. Soon my pony and I will be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And yet another guardian angel sighs as he is called into service.

12 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! I love stories that involve your dad. My theory is that all children (up to the age of ten or thereabouts) are trying to kill themselves - and it's our job to save them! Great story. Do you like to mow the lawn these days?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Lana! Sometimes it's a hard job - keeping them safe. I actually do enjoy mowing the lawn. I love how it looks when I'm done. For a few minutes. It's rather like cleaning the house . . .

      Delete
  2. Oh well...you got a break out of it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I should have gotten - you know - a full 24 hour break for my stress . . .

      Delete
  3. I never liked electric mowers, we always had old-fashioned push mowers where the pushing motion turned the blades, or petrol powered mowers. I preferred the old push mowers, but we always had small lawns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never used a push mower, but they absolutely fascinate me. I'm a elbow-grease/effort sort of person. Ride my bike everywhere I go. Paddle boats instead of using a motor. I've always loved the idea of mowing the lawn using only my own power. And a ergonomic little machine . . .

      Delete
  4. I can just imagine your disappointment that your dad could fix it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. At least you could blame youth...or your horse haha! My husband was working as a carpenter when we first got married and accidently cut the saw cord in half...right in front of his boss...and the government safety inspector and tried to put it back together just like you did! He was a grown man!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your husby and I would get along fine. Or maybe not . . .

      Delete
  6. I love your use of ....... in this post Diane -- my mind wander right over to your horse with you! I think your guardian angels knew how much you were worth protecting, and that is why they kept at it!

    ReplyDelete

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