Early To Bed

Early to rise.
Makes me positive that Ben Franklin spent the better part of his adult life drunk.

Healthy?  OK, he has me there.  Thank God for that.

Wealthy?  All I can say there is, Ha!  Unless he was speaking metaphorically about the richness if life or some other foolishness.  It's entirely possible, considering he was drunk.

Wise?  Give me a fucking break!

I am up before the sun most days.  Morning chores to do before I go to work, force me to rise, if not shine, early.  In the heart of summer, it is not so bad because the days are longer and the dusky dawn comes earlier.  Now, unless there is a moon, it is full on dark when I get up.

My internal clock means that weekends are no different.  Up most days between 4:00 and 4:30AM, some mornings even the dog looks at me like I am nuts.

Once I am up and I am about my business, the day tends to go quickly.  Then I am generally in bed between 9:30 and 10:00PM or I am asleep in my chair.  I guess I am becoming sort of an old fuddy duddy.  Wait, who am I kidding?  I became one of those years ago!

Yesterday was no exception to the routine.  Up early to do chores and then service my windrower so I can try and get one last cutting of hay after the dew is off the grass.  My shop is about 5 miles from the farm and the windrower is very slow, so it takes over an hour to make the trip after greasing, oiling and adjusting.  It is a late 1960s John Deere 800 that has seen many hours.  I always cross my fingers that one of the 4 million intertwined and timed parts doesn't come flying off or apart.  Oil, grease and regular maintenance are key but it is old and there is one hell of a lot going on.  The sickle is moving back and forth.  The rake reel is spinning.  The draper belts are feeding the cut hay into the steel crimp rolls, the clutches are controlling the drive wheels, the belts are spinning shafts that drive what seems to be about 2 miles of chains.  The old Chrysler slant six that powers the whole contraption purrs like a cat.  The rest is noisy, greasy and, as in the case of yesterday afternoon, frustrating as hell.

I made it through about 10 acres of my planned 20, before a chain broke.  #60 chain no less.  In one of the many virtually unaccessible nooks and crannies that the men who engineered this torture device to frustrate those of us who are foolish enough to continue operating them.

So, today I will drive the pecker back to my shop (I will fix it another day) and then rake the hay that I have down and if the dew is not too heavy, I will round bale it tomorrow after work.

Hey!  Guess what?  Daylight savings time means I will be going home in the dark soon too!

Thanks Ben!  Fuck you!

On the bright side, I think I got sympathy sex last night!  Although that meant staying "up" past my bed time!