I was talking to a neighbour as we had both come out to our mailboxes at the same time. We were just passing the day as neighbors sometimes do and he noticed that I was wearing what he thought were clip on shades to my glasses. I proudly showed him that they were actually held on by little magnets hardly visible to the naked eye. He seemed interested enough that he might consider getting a set for his own use.

We went our ways both back indoors and I decided that I needed to get out the riding mower to trim both the front and the very small back areas which are about the only areas that have any grass in or outside of my yard. The rest of the space is taken up with the five ponds. The sun was shining bright and the temperature was a very nice 85 degrees, would you believe. Pretty amazing for the time of year as after all, technically it is still wintertime here in Texas. Being the very attentive person that I am on listening to the advice of my Dermatologist, or more probably afraid of her lecture for not following her instructions, I went back indoors and slathered my face, neck, arms and legs (I wear shorts year round) with suntan lotion. I noticed that for some reason, the lotion, which was nearly empty anyway, had turned very runny and was more like oil than ointment. I continued to use it not giving much thought to the consequences.

I went back to work on the mowing and managed to finish the front area which, incidentally is the largest of the two areas. I have already mentioned that it was a rather hot day and consequently I started to sweat although I didn’t notice it too much. Then my eyes started to sting just a little and being so engrossed in what I was doing, thought that it was probably some pollen or dust that had got in.

By this time, I had driven the mower back inside the yard and to the back area which as I said before, is the only area that has any open space. The reason for the space is that the name of my street is called Murmuring Creek and the creek in question is created anytime we get a gully washing downpour, the kind that drops several inches of rain in a very short space of time and it runs out of the 24 inch drainage pipe which runs under the road, under my fence and then through the back yard. This is the lowest spot for several hundred yards around adding to the amount of water coming out of the pipe and then under my fence. I have a half acre lot and I have had it flood as far as halfway up the garden in years gone by but with some clever manipulation and strategic placement of several railroad ties, I have managed to keep the water to the very lowest point. It still floods my yard but only for about 20 odd feet or so.

By now, I was sweating profusely and my eyes were really beginning to sting. I kept stopping and wiping them and adding eye drops which I always carry. It was getting hard to see but I was determined that I was going to finish the damn mowing which I eventually did. I drove the mower back out of the backyard and into my garage which is where I keep it. By the way, this is the first year that I have not had to take the mower and get it overhauled like I have in the past forever Springtimes due mainly to the fact that I remembered to start it up every 3-4 weeks this year and so keeping it in running order.

Only when I walked back into the house did I realize that I no longer had the dark clip on shades on my glasses, the ones that my neighbor so admired. Fearing the worst and with my eyes still smarting from the mixture of sweat and sun lotion, I went back out into the yard to look for them. Sure enough, I found them at the spot that I inadvertently knocked off my glasses to wipe my streaming and very painful eyes. The problem was that I had mowed over them and I could only find one half, the other is probably miles away with the force of the mower blades.

That was that so sore eyes and minus sun shades, I decided that I really needed to go to the Supermarket to stock the larder. Here in Texas we are in the habit of carrying our own shopping bags into the store in an effort to cut back on the amount of plastic in the landfills and as is the case with plastic bags, on the fences and hedgerows along the side of the road. I grabbed two of my bags and placed them in my shopping cart only to discover when I eventually checked out, that I only had one bag still in the cart. Somewhere on my way around the store, the other bag had fallen out and I had not noticed. I finished checking out and made a quick walk around doubling back on my tracks but to no avail as there was no sight of the bag. I donate to a lot of charities and have shopping bags from them which I am proud to use and display and this particular bag was brand new having never been used. It was from Doctors Without Borders and was the first that I had from them. Oh well, as long as someone is putting it to good use and is advertising for them, it matters not who.

I got back into my truck and sat there for a moment thinking about the days events and how they come in threes in my case sun lotion in my eyes, running over my shades and then losing the bag. At least there was nothing wrong with my Grande Latte from the next door Starbucks.

Written 2/16/2019