We Have Been Detected

So much work has been done at the farm as far as clean-up goes, and still some work needs to be done. The mess is incredibly overwhelming, but the collective family is getting it under control. And there are perpetual fires to assist with the getting rid of things. I'm taking shameless advantage of this to clean up things around our place that I wasn't sure what to do with, like the pool that had a hole in it, the carpet that was pulled out of the old playhouse, and a stack of broken plastic chairs.

Most of the hard work has been done at the barn, like pulling barn beams out, carrying out all scrap metal, sorting through piles and piles of hay... But the work site isn't exactly a safe environment. There are pieces of barn beams that fell and broke, partially covered in hay, and washed over with dirt and char. There are large rocks from the barn wall that fell in when the tracker was driven over the edge the night of the fire. These, too, are covered in hay and char and mud. There are concrete blocks in the mess that sit at precarious angles. But it's the nails from burned boards that fell that one has to be especially careful of. My brother-in-law stepped on one that ran clear through his foot. He, too, is now updated on his tetanus shot.

Dad had both hips replaced over the years, and despite having bionic joints, they seem to hinder his mobility rather than make him more agile. Iron Man is a fairy tale. I'm just saying. So you can imagine why I yelled, "what the heck are you doing?!" when I saw him standing on a barn beam, a story in the air, with a chain saw in his hands. (He was trying to cut the beam down, is what he was doing.) Sometimes dad does incredibly silly things that are a danger to himself but never others. The collective family is aware of this, and we keep an eye on him at all times to protect him from himself.

We were just finishing up dinner the other day (or lunch, for the city crowd) when dad said, "well, the crew would stand here all day if I let them. I'm heading out to the barn. I know everyone else will follow because they're afraid I'll do something I shouldn't."

So that sneaky guy is onto us. And plays us like a fiddle. Touche, dad. Touche.