I Love This Place (Redux)

The other afternoon, I was outside mowing, vrooming back and forth on my riding mower across the swath of our yard that faces the state highway. Like always, I had the earbuds of my iPod Shuffle jammed in my ears, replacing the whirring of the mower with the throb of the Ramones, which was probably just as bad for my hearing.  After making countless passes across the lawn, I saw Barb standing on the front porch trying to catch my attention.

I cut the power to the mower, pulled the buds out of my