We
had a beautiful fall day yesterday (Tuesday, Oct. 2) with an official high of
78. The overnight low was the coolest yet – 40. With a clear but cooler day
ahead of me, I pulled my autumn sweatshirts from storage and put one on. And
with cooler temps in the forecast, I’m changing the bed today so that there
will be no argument against switching to warmer pajamas. (One of us can’t
rationalize clean pajamas unless the sheets are also clean.)
Mike
and I arrived at the farm on Wednesday (Sept. 26) to quickly prepare for Nick
and Hallie’s arrival that night. I had housework to do, but Mike decided to
ride his road bike to Nezperce and beyond.
In that case, he carries his bike to where the gravel road becomes
pavement, parks the pick-up, and begins his bike ride from that point.
I
have sympathy for Nellie when Mike drives/rides off. If you think only dog
thoughts, you really don’t know what’s going on. Will he come back soon? Will
he ever come back? They say dogs don’t see well, but Nellie will watch Mike
until he disappears behind the slope of June’s field at the Plank place, fully
a quarter mile distant, whether he’s driving the pick-up or riding his bike,
the 4-wheeler, or the dirt bike.
A
walk seems to reassure Nellie that her needs will be met even if Mike is gone –
and she’s come to expect it. So I grabbed my visor, and leaving the dusty house
behind, we headed down the lane. (Dust means nothing to Nellie, of course.) I
was short on time, though, so at the top of Plank’s Pitch we cut back across
June’s field, fairly easy now that I can walk in the tracks made by the harvest
machines and trucks. I had walked a ways in this dusty track when I spied it –
something on the ground. It was about the color of the dust/dirt and would have
been easy to overlook. It proved to be one of those Leatherman multi-tools –
quite a nice one. Of course, I put it in my pocket. 
Passing
the pond on the way to the house, I paused to take a picture of these
“Delicious” apples. Don’t they look lovely? Well, it’s a lie. They were invaded
by worms at the place where they touch each other. The apples on this little
tree spoiled before they were ripe, a condition that affects most of our apple trees.
I’d like to see if we can take better care of them – hard to do when we’re
coming and going and when we can’t get to them in the spring for the wet
ground. Once again, I resolved to do better if I can (and if I can motivate
others to help me), and perhaps we should plant a few more fruit trees.
When
I showed Mike the Leatherman tool, he agreed with me that we should find out if
it belonged to Farmer Kyle or his crew. So, after supper, he called the good
farmer’s wife, and she said that yes indeed, Farmer Kyle had lost his
Leatherman tool and would be relieved to know it had been found. He loses one a
year, she said, adding that Leatherman tools are expensive and she was tired of
replacing them.
And
coincidentally, Mike was looking through his hunting bag today and discovered
something he thought he had lost – his own Leatherman tool. Another happy find!
KW
5 comments:
You were so good to seek out the owner of the lost Leatherman. Too often today when people find things, they assume it now belongs to them. Dad told me that in the old days, when he was working out in the woods, he could leave a jacket on a bush when it got too hot and go on about his way and know it would be there when he returned. By the time he retired from Canyon, he said you couldn't do it--people would take anything they found. (And an aside--he took many of his tools to Canyon and they disappeared, too, even though he had is initials stamped into them.)
Anyway, well done, you!
Over the years, I've given a lot of thought to the subject of picking up lost items. (I'm not talking about outright stealing, you understand.) People drop things all the time and some of which are valueless. In a different scenario, I wouldn't have known how to return the Leatherman, but since I found it in the field, it was right to contact the farmer (our "operator.")
Tools are especially troublesome. They're expensive and so many trades people are required to have their own.
Didn't know what a "Leatherman tool" was until I googled it. Holy cow. You could build a house with one of those things. When I looked at the images spread across the google image page (with the tools opened up), I thought...That's where the idea for "Edward Scissorhands" came from.
As for returning lost things, I'm with you, Kathy. If you can figure out who could possibly have lost the "thing," and you can match "thing" with owner, you are certainly doing a good deed.
The pears you gave us have been serving us well. The first one we tried seemed ripe, but it was just very bruised--a goner for sure. We've had two that successfully ripened in the bag and were very good in our smoothies. It will be fun to learn more about taking care of the old fruit trees. (I know this is a somewhat random comment, but I don't have anything to say about the found Leatherman).
I hadn't heard of a Leatherman tool until son Clint showed me his some years back. Mike's is actually more elaborate than Farmer Kyle's -- has a tiny scissors at the end of one extension.
Hallie, this is an open discussion, so you can change the subject if you like. I threw away four or five of the pears I brought home, as you did. Yesterday we ate a large one for lunch and it was delicious -- as good as any pear anywhere. I am now worried about the ones I left on the porch since we aren't at the farm and other activities are keeping us in town. And I still have a bowlful of apples to process.
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