All that I can do is listen to you; all that you can be is out there

It’s Friday evening, and I’m mentally gearing up for my long trek to Seattle. Lo and behold, I learn that it is NEXT Saturday that my parents are driving back to TN. In addition, Sister 3 is staying for another week rather than returning to Provo once we had her moved in on the 29^th. Now, leaving the next day doesn’t seem quite so appealing. As I contemplate sticking around a little longer, there is a knock at the door…TA DAAAAH Sister 1 and Post-Doc boyfriend have shown up unexpectedly from San Diego. The whole family is officially together now. I called my boss, and he informed me that he hadn’t expected me at work until the 3^rd anyway. My contract said I would start on the first, but oh well.

PD is from Boston. I think he may be 29, but he is easily the smartest sub 30 year-old I have ever met. One thing PD did not have growing up however was a big yard/farm. Now that he lives in Pasadena, he has even fewer opportunities to do manual labor. So he comes out to our place in Logan and wants to do some yard work. Can do.

Now it’s Sunday; S1, PD, and myself will all be leaving first thing in the morning. Before he goes, we decided to show PD the glory that is a rototiller. We borrowed the neighbor’s nice Troy-Built with a 5hp Brigs and Stratton motor. One uses rototillers to break up ground. chop weeds, or grind up kittens if you don't use it correctily. Anyway, PD starts off fairly well, but one thing you have to know about ‘tillers is that they can get pretty jumpy. Sometimes, the blades will hit extra-dense dirt or a rock, and the machine will lurch forward. If you’re ready for it, you don’t lose control, but you DO have to hang on. My dad warned PD, but apparently, he didn’t warn him explicitly enough.

As PD reached the edge of the garden, the ‘tiller jumped forward out of his hands and crashed into the wooden fence promptly smashing the bottom edge of the motor housing and breaking 6 of the twenty iron fins on the fly wheel. My dad has mellowed out in over the years, so he kept his cool. Unfortunately, bestowed with the role of the alpha-male, he now has to fix the $1000 piece of equipment, tell PD he has to buy a new one, or return broken ‘tiller to neighbor. Not the best way to spend ones vacation. Luckily, my daddy has been fixing this kind of thing for 40 years; let us hope that the parts can be easily ordered.

And that’s it folks, that was my last story from Utah for a while. In T-minus 14 hours, I shall depart for unknown territory. Am I ready? You’d better damn well believe it.

Interesting details will follow as they appear.