Seesaw Day

I'll bet there are kids today who have never seen a seesaw, the old-fashioned wooden kind that was in every school yard everywhere.  I imagine that in an attempt to protect children from themselves, all implements of possible danger have been removed so there are probably no more seesaws, kid-powered merry-go-rounds, monkey bars, and swings on long chains that made you feel you could reach the stars.  Of course we got bumps and scrapes, road-rash from falling on asphalt, and all those "bad" things.  We also got hands-on experience in teamwork and daily exercise (without an app to prompt one to put down the electronic gizmos and get up and play).  But I digress.

Yesterday was a seesaw ride at Farview.  I'd no more come back from the barn when Patrick called and said he'd be on his way with the alfalfa and grain delivery.  Yay!  No more worry that it wouldn't come before the rain.  Patrick bucked the bales into the feed barn and even put the chicken feed into the barrels for me.  That was an up.  The bill was nearly $300.  Down.

Got off my rusty-dusty and swept and polished the living room.  Up.  Bessie Anne tracked in leaves and twigs.  Down.  Left to go buy more drill bits and picked up the mail on my way out.  Found a check from a class-action settlement in which I hadn't even been aware I was involved, and it covered nearly half of the feed bill.  Up.

Coming back from the hardware store, I noted that Patrick hadn't shut the storm door to the feed room and it was standing open.  On closer inspection, the wind had obviously slammed the door back and forth until it was disintegrated beyond repair.  Down.  Not only that, the inner door latch would not keep the door closed.  Down.  The feed room has two doors, front and rear, so I went around and put a 40-lb. bag of feed down to keep the front door closed temporarily.  Having two doors was an Up.

The rule of thumb here is "Call before you come."  Twice in the past week people have appeared out of the blue, apparently without warning.  "I thought you were going to call," sez I.  "I did," sez they.  Voice mail messages left on house or cell phones do not count if I'm working in the barn or driving and don't see them before I see you.  Down.

While deciding if there was enough time to try the new drill bits in what was left of the afternoon, I sat down and was promptly joined by Bess and Celeste.  A can of beer was on the table beside me.  Bessie kicked Celeste and Celeste kicked the beer.  Down.  The can was almost empty.  Up.

The living room looked nice.  There was leftover pizza for dinner.  All the critters went into their rooms without problem.  There was more beer in the fridge.  All in all, I'd say it was an "Up" day.