10/06/26
To work outside, a cool breezy sun warmed day
“I will rake the walnuts”, an unplanned project say
22 piles, one lunch intermission, and one blister later… of my work proud
“Looks good,” … a compliment given aloud
To load them up and haul them away, Dad I did recruit
The lawnmower (which pulled the wagon for pile clean up) ran out of gas, (hah), shoot
Mom brought over a full gas can, supporting the mission to complete
Honestly, it was a full five and half hour feat
The before and after, the best part, agree
More walnuts to fall, (hah) love a generous tree
Dad showed me the mushrooms he had found hiding beneath the evergreen
Surprising to me, they went uncaptured, unseen
Mushroom knowledge lacking, described them as unique
Fairytale, imagine a mini world seek
Temps to drop in the 30s (or below) during the night
Save the butternut squash, picking them seemed right
Dad threw the butternut squash my way
Like a game of catch, garden play
Into the 4-wheeler, score
Let’s go for an 8:00pm ice cream, no need to say more
Comment:
Today, my dad turned to me and he said … “What do you think? Stupid?” Prior to this utterance, he had shared with me his idea of where to haul the walnuts. I chuckled because … I didn’t know … stupid or not, I was ready to do it. (Mom’s kind of the smart one when it comes to problem solving).
My dad often says to me with genuine surprise, “Very good, Opal.” He often says it when he is shocked by something I remember or by my random displays of genius (lol). He also says it when I do good work (like today). I know it is only 2-words and to some it may seem unimportant, but I thought it an observation worth noting. Words matter. What we say to others matters.
In the meantime, I might Google to learn more about walnut trees (Like… How many walnuts drop a year? Is there a benefit to having a walnut tree? How bad are walnuts for a lawn mower? Are they edible? How do you tell?).
Leave a Reply