The Sounds of Summer in December
I spent some of this morning listening to the rain drops on the front porch and thinking it sounded like summer out there. Nothing like a little December rain to remind a guy that it’s going to be Christmas time in Minneapolis clear through May. I came across this picture from the 1920′s just before nap time and it reminded me of my favorite summer sound. There’s nothing quite as soothing as the gentle ticking woosh made by the whirling blade of a push mower as it goes back and forth across the lawn. This old photo by Chester Sawyer Wilson was probably taken near Stillwater. When I was about the same age as the boy in the picture I used to mow the lawn of a little old man who lived across the street. As far as I know he never left his easy chair in the living room. He didn’t pay me much, but I didn’t do a very good job either. One afternoon when I was trying to collect a couple dollars from him, I came into the living room and he was fast asleep. I woke him up and told him I was all done. He pulled out his wallet and before he opened it he looked at me and said that God had been taking care of him for the past couple nights. I asked him what he meant. He said that when he got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom God turned on a light for him and when he was all done, God turned it off again. His wallet was empty so he sent me to the kitchen to see his wife. I told her I thought the old guy was probably losing it. She pulled out her purse and asked me what I meant. I started to tell her about God turning on and off lights. Her face went pale at first then it tightened up and she marched out to the living room screaming, ” I can’t believe you’re peeing in the refrigerator again!!!”
Awesome; picture and story