Sharp Eyes

Tonight after dinner I went out to remove a dead branch from the back lawn that had fallen at some point after John had dethatched the lawn this afternoon.

I carried the oak branch with dead leaves down the path and into the woods where we have a little brush pile where small animals shelter. I tossed the branch onto the pile then walked back up the path. Having RA I don't do well walking on uneven surfaces, so I'm always looking at the ground to make sure I'm not going to fall into a divot or rut, or trip over a mound. At the head of the path to the woods I found a medium size cotter pin. I picked it up, brought it in and showed it to John, asking him if it was off his riding mower with bagger.

He grimaced, said, "Yup, and if you found one piece that means there're probably one or two more." So off he goes outside. I told him I'd found it at the head of the path. When I looked out the kitchen window he was no where in sight, so I went back out and walked to the head of the path and looked around- and there was a big washer half buried in the dusty dirt. I plucked that out and headed back toward the house.

Kelly was shouting that "Dad's out front!" so I veered toward the driveway. I saw him down near the road searching the lawn so called, "Is this washer part of whatever it is you lost?"

Yes, it was.

And then he gave me the news that there was another piece, a short "pin" he called it. I said, "Well, if these two pieces were within a square foot of each other at the head of the path, wouldn't it be logical that the third piece would have fallen out there too?" He didn't seem convinced, saying it might have stayed in and jiggled out elsewhere.

Logical me says, "Well, maybe the best place to start looking is where I found the other two pieces." He reluctantly followed me to the head of the path, and then started wandering around left and right. I said, "Tell me again what I'm looking for?" He holds his fingers about an inch and a half apart and says, "It's just a little thing." Great. A little thing the cotter pin secures in place. I'm thinking it's maybe a little rod-shaped thing? He's not a very descriptive guy.

He's still wandering around where the swimming pool used to be. I'm focused on the head of the path. I see nothing, so I start down the path because he drives the riding mower down the path and mows where we used to have a garden. I'm looking for a slender rod like thing about an inch and a half in length. What I find is a short, stubby, silver-colored, heavy little thing that looks like a squashed mushroom. It's just lying there on the grass on the path. So I pick up this odd object and hold it up and call, "What's this?"

He says, "That's it," comes and takes it and heads off to the house.

Hello? Did I hear a thank you for finding three small parts in a big back yard on a seldom used path that would cost him a good sum of money to replace?

Nope.

Men!