I'm Too Old For This

Sunday morning Brett and I were up at 4:00, after spending a restless night waiting for 4:00. What is it about knowing that you only four hours to sleep that then makes it impossible to sleep at all? Brett tied down the contents of the trailer while I loaded a cooler with the contents of the freezer and then we were on our way.

We pulled into the Placerville storage facility at 3pm. The heat hit us hard when we opened the doors of the truck and climbed out. 105F was too warm even for Brett but we had no choice so we got to work. I poured some of my water bottle into my straw hat and then put it on, letting the cold water trickle down my face and neck. After stacking boxes and more of Brett's tools we drove to Oak Creek. It was slightly cooler there but still on the wrong side of 100F.

By this time, I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. I stumbled around with my wet hat, sitting on the tailgate when I couldn't take anymore. We unloaded my pot of rhubarb and set it in the shade of an oak tree in the garden. I gave it a thorough soaking with hose. Next, we unloaded the rabbit hutch setting it next to the rhubarb. The dog house was next. We carried it, stumbling like we were drunk or stoned, into the dog run. Large dogs require a large dog house. It's a heavy thing but the dogs love it so much that we had to bring it for them.

Brett backed the truck and trailer around to the back of the barn where we unloaded bales of hay, bags of wood pellets, and a metal trash can full of alfalfa pellets. Last off the trailer was Brett's ride-on mower. We got the ramps down and we crossed our fingers that it would start without the jumper cable. Brett started backing the mower onto the ramp; I was scared to death a wheel was going to slide off. Visions of Brett on the ground with the mower on top of him were not helping my nausea situation. Brett climbed off and we pushed, pulled and shoved the mower so that it was facing forward towards the ramp. It started again and Brett cautiously headed for the ramp. It got stuck. After trying to maneuver it over the lip of the trailer, Brett climbed off again. We pulled out the brake release and let it roll. The mower rolled straight down the ramp, bumped and rattled a few feet and stopped. Brett climbed on, it started, and he rode it in a victory circle before parking it in the barn next to the hay bales.

We headed to the front porch swing with a cold drink. Brett turned on the hose to rinse his face and hands. He looked up at me grinning, "this well water is COLD." I took a turn, letting the cold water rinse the salty sweat from my face and neck. Again and again and again. It was better than sex.

Next weekend we bring up the animals. We're in the home stretch; hopefully we will cross the finish line in one piece.


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