I
arrived at Mimi’s at 8:30 a.m. for my morning coffee and small talk before
jumping into the first day of spring preparations. Mimi’s husband Bob had always insisted that
it was the only civilized way to start a day of physical labor and I tended to
agree. We discussed the Indians, the
Master’s, the movie ‘Argo’ and many other things over the next forty minutes,
but finally I knew it was time to begin.
“I’m
going to start with the pressure sprayer.
I’ll get wet and it’ll be messy, so I want to do that first,” I said.
It
was supposed to have been sunny and in the 60’s, but the weather had not
bothered to check with the weather reporters.
It was closer to 35 and overcast…perfect conditions for working with
water and having wet clothes and feet. Mimi
suggested I wait, and as much sense as that made, I was determined to plow
forward. I took the furniture from the deck
and started it up.
For
the next two hours, I pounded the mold-covered deck wood with 1,200 pounds of
pressure. I have to admit that I love
pressure-spraying things clean…and her deck was no exception. I could see the dirt and mold washing away as
I moved the hose back and forth in front of me.
When I finally finished, I tackled a cement dog statue in the back yard
and an iron table base that needed to be repainted. I could have gone merrily along pressure-spraying
any one of a number of things around the yard, but knew that I had other chores
that needed to be done, so I finally shut it down and loaded it back in the
Jeep to return to Dan. I’d also taken
her old, heavy propane grill apart and shoved that in the Jeep, as well. The cabinet was stainless steel and Dan had a
scrap guy that would haul it away and make a few dollars. Mimi’s guy was going to charge her to pick it
up, so win-win.
I
spent the afternoon raking and gathering sticks by the thousands from the front
yard. When I called it quits a little
after three to drive the sprayer and grill out to Dan’s, I was pretty whipped. I called Holly from Dan’s though, and met her
in the park for a 75-minute hike on the way home. No matter how tired I am, there’s always
enough in the tank to walk over those beautiful trails.
I
finished the evening with an old friend and a deep fried turkey. Henry had invited me over for conversation
and food…and he’s an outstanding cook. I
ate a pound or two of turkey while we watched one of my favorite movies, ‘The
Last of the Mohicans’. It is filmed in
the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Chimney Rock National Park,
which reminds me so much of the Adirondacks (the actual location for the book
setting) that I want to start packing my gear every time I watch. I ate well…I did plenty of work though I didn’t
exercise…and I think I came out about even on calories in-calories out.
Yard work
duration: 6 hours. Hike duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart
Rate: 80 on yard work and hiking.Calories burned during workout: 1800 on yard work and 400 hiking.
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