Life in the retirement lane is not for the faint hearted.

It is, literally, another day in the neighborhood, and this one falls on Tuesday, September 10, 2019. We finally did it. We made another life-enhancing decision, we bought a new lawnmower. Here's the deal. Our yard can be challenging. It has ditches. It has some pretty rugged terrain. Based on the last nearly 40 years, it is really hard on mowers. The one we've had for a while is a rebuilt Toro. It has served us well, however, the transmission is slipping, and it has been for a long time now somewhat underpowered for our yard. Therefore, we bought a Honda unit with variable speed capabilities. We have only used it one time, but, it did very well. Like the two she sheds, the walk behind mower pretty much falls under the purview and control of the woman of the house or in this case, the woman of the yard. I typically ride the small tractor mower and work on the front yard and she does the back. She is an excellent yard person. And, she loves doing it. When she finished the back she came to the front and began working on the places the riding mower doesn't finish. I thought I would give the new mower a spin. The reason we bought this unit was the transition we have undergone. We have progressed from needing a walk-behind mower to needing one that pulls us along. She reluctantly turned the new mower over to me, but, she stood nearby to watch what I was doing. The ditches are particularly difficult but when the new mower is cranked up to high, well, you have to trot to keep up with it. Good! Hang on. I got to the end of the ditch and needed to exit up near the culvert. I cranked up the speed and allowed it to climb up the side. Unfortunately, it hung a little and chewed up the turf some. I saw the look of disgust on her face. In my defense, we have been watching some of the old reruns of Home Improvement and maybe I was channeling Tim the Tool Man. I could tell she wasn't pleased with my work. I can't remember who said what first, but, I may have inquired as to whether she was now the Mowing Inspector. She simply said, "Didn't you ever use a lawnmower when you were growing up?" I did not see that one coming. I told her I did and I could remember one time running over a wrench or something that came through the cast iron frame on the mower. I mentioned that Paw Paw Mac was not happy about that. I could tell she knew exactly how he felt.

I told that little story because life is made up of stories. Were we angry at one another? Nope. Once it was done we both went on about our business. We later went to the mall and walked and then we went to the big box store to pick up a few items. While we were at the mall one of those foreign fellows who sell stuff off their kiosk ran out to me and declared, "Hey, it's Papa Smurf! It's Papa Smurf!" I stopped. I pulled out one of my Santa souvenir cards and handed it to him. He held it up for his other co-workers to see and hollered out, "Hey, it's Santa, It's Santa!" Maybe I could get some special recognition for educating international workers. I carried Mr. Bentley to the Vet last week. He had developed a rash. It turned out to be a bacterial infection, so he is now on an antibiotic. I actually wanted to go to the vet because I wanted them to check again on the eye they did surgery on. They say his eye is fine even though it does show some discoloration from time to time. They think Mr. Bentley may have allergies. You don't say? They also see some dental work in his future. Really? I told them I did not want him worked on to the point that he is no longer the good little doggie that he is. They gave me a strange look. I was worried that just listening to them could turn the little pup into a hypochondriac. I had a flashback. The oil change people. They always tell you these doomsday stories if you don't do their recommended add on service. I do know these are good folks who do love animals, but, they put their smocks on every day in order to succeed in the profession and business they have chosen. Maybe next time I take him I will have him wear earplugs so he won't become depressed. I know these stories have nothing to do with each other, but, I'm sharing as it comes to me. Please do not ever confuse me with Papa Smurf. Thank you very much.

I recently read the results from an international study trying to discover why people appear to be drawn to negative news. (My guess, even before I read the article, is that it has to do with the same reason people rubberneck at the scene of an accident.) Their findings indicated people are inclined to be more fixated on the negative than other stories. And, since, media is by and large competitive, what would you guess they are selling? Negative stories. I do have a Twitter feed. It has mostly news sources that post into my feed. I have no need to watch the videos or read the stories. The captions indicate the content. One after the other, fault finding negative subjects are being promoted by the mainstream news outlets. The study I mentioned pointed out how things were not nearly as negative as the participants thought. However, it mostly blamed the watchers for going after the negative. Wait a minute? If the media is selling negative as a product because that's where the revenues are found, then, my thought is they have as much responsibility as those who choose to watch. I add this additional bit of commentary which reflects my own thoughts. Since our current President has an ongoing hot war in progress with the mainstream press, he calls them fake news outlets, well, my belief is this in and of itself has much to do with what ends up being featured by those he is at war with. They are not only a part of the so-called resistance against the current administration but, they really are in actuality the leaders of it. The study more or less said things are not as bad as people think because of this fixation on the negative. I've got one better than that: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Book of Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28) Amen. .....More later.