Mason

by Richard Grover

Last week produced a little good and a little bad for me. Well, actually, the good was Snuffy’s good night. One morning before breakfast Mona looked down toward the road and said, “Look at Snuffy, lying there on the bank beside the road. I bet he has a coon up a tree. You better take the gun when you go after the paper!” As I came out of the house, she asked, “What’s that in the driveway?”

“Looks like a woodchuck to me.” Sure enough, a dead woodchuck lay in the driveway, and Snuffy had a coon atop a maple tree beside the road. A busy night for Snuffy!

After breakfast, I decided the grass needed mowing. As I mowed between the house and driveway, the mower hit a piece of broken asphalt — kachunk! I knew I should have picked up that piece, but then I forgot. I continued mowing the minimum necessary because I needed to go to work for the Census Bureau.

When I drove the mower up to the storage barn, I was shocked! The rear window of the truck cap (inside the barn) had somehow exploded. Pieces of safety glass were scattered everywhere, and the window hardware was a shambles. How did that happen? I didn’t have the window up when I drove the pickup into the barn! Then it dawned on me. The broken asphalt! I couldn’t even find the piece of asphalt among the glass shards. Apparently, the asphalt flew from the mower, hit the window, and caused the explosion. I hate it when that happens!

The wood ticks are out in force this spring. I found 6 of them on the back of my head and neck to-day (Monday)!