After a week of 90 degree heat and humidity, followed by a weekend of much needed rain, the weather finally broke, leaving a 65 degree day and a garden still too wet to work here in Southwest Michigan. Time to mow the walking trails in the woods-a job really about a month overdue-what with the press of other springtime chores.Greased up the overriding coupler(what do you call it again, Dell?), hooked up the Woods Dixie bush hog to the old 9N, and away we went. Just cleaned out the gas tank inlet Saturday(had an insect shell in it(one of these days I'm going to have to buy a new one-screen's gone off of this one). Left an old butcher knife at the edge of the trail to cut off the wads of waist high orchard grass wrapped around the PTO shaft on the first pass(one of these days I'm going to get that swap meet tool box painted and put on). Revved up, the oil pressure read 20-some blowby, but if I'm careful, maybe this 1941 9N will last a few more years(it's only a year older'n me-and this is the toughest job I ask it to do anymore, since I got the Troy-Bilt and left the plow sittin' in the weeds). Finally got the mower adjusted so I wouldn't have to hold the quadrant lever down-needed both hands to push the overhanging limbs out of the way(and very thankful for the vertical steel bars on the '41 grill-how do all these limbs grow so fast, anyway?-going to have to hack away at 'em again one of these days) Sputtering started up again about halfway through; so it was limp over to a shade tree, shut it off to cool, and walk back to the house for some wrenches(how can one gas tank get so much crud in it? Ford-New Holland could make a mint if they would invent some kind of a chemical crud emulsifier just for old Ford gas tanks). But, hey, I needed a break and some iced tea anyway, and the walk through the woods showed that this weekend's rains will make a bumper crop of black raspberries, and the Baltimore Orioles are feasting on the now ripened mulberries. Yep, more crud in the valve. Maybe it'll last until this job is done. Back to the job at hand, the little Ford hummin' away. Eat your heart out, Roger Welch; you couldn't do this with an old WC-you'd punch a hole in the radiator or tear off your exhaust pipe in these tree branches and bushes. Yep, it don't get any better'n this. After a plate of fresh bluegills from the lake, my grandaughter and I took a little walk in the woods tonight. We checked the raspberries, looked for baby bunnies, and stained our tongues mulberry blue. The dog tagged along too. No ticks this time. Oh, right.... This board's for questions and let Roger spin the yarns. Anybody know where I can buy a new Ford hat? I need a new one, but I'm not gonna tell you what happened to the old one.
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