June 12 – “View of a …rat”

Three mile walk again.  Check.

Dove into my Monday work since we were on the road Monday.  Check

After lunch I took a chance and mowed the grass.  I was a little worried about the heat being too much, but just the opposite was true.  Well, maybe not the opposite, but it certainly wasn’t unbearable.

Right in the middle of it all I was getting ready to weed eat in the backyard.  I received a strange text.  It was from Chris, who was still in the front yard sweeping grass from the sidewalk.  She asked me if I wanted to help the neighbor start her lawnmower.  Strange request.  I headed right to the front yard to see what was going on.

As soon as I appeared, the neighbor’s Mom, who always sits on their porch, hollered at me, “Mr. Kelley! Can you come help them start the lawn mower?  They don’t know what they’re doing.”  Well, OK.  A reasonable enough request, I guess.  I checked the gas and oil.  All fine.  I made a few preliminary tugs.  Nothing.  Then I remembered something about our old mower.  Sure enough, this was an oldie as well. It still had one of those choke mechanisms that you have to pump a few times before it will start  Took care of that and it started like a charm. 

Come to find out no one in that entire household had ever in their lives operated a lawn mower.  The 8 months pregnant lady excitedly took the beast from me, anxious to try her hand at the new toy.  Her teenaged son watched.  I returned to my backyard duties, hoping the youngster would step up and take over.  Chris told me later that he did take over … for one small strip of grass.  Then he quit and went inside.  Sad.

I finally pulled up the sunflowers in the back yard.  When Zak was here he saw a big rat feasting on the seeds, so Chris was suddenly on board with them coming down.  Speaking of rats, we were relaxing in the back yard after a hard day of mowing and the like, when Chris saw one of the critters in the tree in the neighbor’s yard.  Its trajectory caused it to disappear below the fence line.  I snuck over there as quietly as I could.  Suddenly I kicked the fence repeatedly and screamed, “Get out of here, rat!”  Within seconds, that frightened rat was scurrying up the tree and dashing madly across the neighbor’s roof.  Best way to view a rat that I can think of – one or both of us running opposite directions.

Luke 6:12 says, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

Father, be with our neighbors as they try to learn how to live in a stand-alone home.  Amen.