Spoiler Alert!!!
If you've not read the previous "Enter the Dragon..." post:
STOP NOW!
Suggest reading that post from September 27, 2020 first.
You've been warned!
Occasionally, my inner 8 year old just takes over and the results are predictably - unpredictable.
And since we completed our work and now get to play, he shows up a bit more frequently...
Judy just rolls her eyes and "suggests" I am being juvenile.
I believe more accurately, that we are simply pursuing adventure!
Which is what happened to the earlier "Enter the Dragon" post...
Jennifer sent me a text after reading that post:
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.
Children already know that dragons exist.
Fairy tales tell children the Dragon can be killed.
(GK Chesterton)
I found the quote highly interesting.
Jordan Peterson also has much to say about fairy tales, their hidden interpretations and their importance in child development and socialization.
And I believe it's true...fairy tails and childhood stories help build courage, examples to go out and do what is right, a desire to keep getting back up, to not let fear stop you, and even to be industrious.
Jack and the Beanstalk, Pinocchio, The Little Red Hen, The Three Litle Pigs...
Even The Itsy Bitsy Spider sets an example to get back up after failure and climb that water spout again.
The next time you see a spider, you'll remember...
Never.Give.Up!!!
Another comment:
Your blog brought me right back to everything I love about my childhood.
That comment brought tears to an ol' Dad's eyes.
Ya' never know for sure when you're in the midst of a fire fight about how it will all turn out...about who will survive...
We tried our hardest to do what we thought was right.
And maybe a few things did come out OK...in spite of ourselves being in the way.
No one can tell me God's wonderful grace is not real...
And so we write to find meaning from our day to day...and maybe so others can find meaning from some of their own special adventures.
The telling of a great Dragon on the prowl is so much more adventurous than simply saying what a "normal" 63 year old cranky curmudgeon would relate.
"Had a forestry mulcher in to clear some brush the other day."
Now, THAT is compelling!!!
Excitement, daring adventure, and edge of the seat anticipation ooze from that rich narrative!
Publish that and both of my subscribers will cancel and return the money I keep sending them just to read the blog.
But the reality is we did have someone in for about 6 hours with a forestry mulcher on a skid steer. He cleared underbrush and trees up to about 8 inches in diameter on some of the lower sections of the property.
He completed in one hour what would take me 2 weeks to complete with a brush hog, grapple, chainsaw and burn piles...and I would be tearing up my equipment just to do it.
Wish I'd taken a few more before and after pictures!
Before:
After:
Another view of the same area after the mulcher.
Couple of other areas cleared...
Windy Hill is starting to shape up!!!
So 6 hours later, we had maybe ~5 more acres cleared...a whole summer of hard labor if done manually.
Next, ol' Arlis (our 60 year old Massey Ferguson), young Max (more about Max coming in another post) and I have to clean up some old trunks and tops from about 10 large ugly pines cut last fall, plus brush hog some more of the smaller stuff to open things up even further.
We've made lots of changes on Windy Hill already, and one of those is expanding the view from Windy Hill.
And that's kind of the same objective for this "View From Windy Hill" blog...
To expand views.
And really, isn't that what everyone's objective should be?
To broaden their perspective...to expand their own views...to find meaning from life...
And that Dragon...
It was truly and terribly impressive!
Big, loud and fearsome...and it really did have swords for a tongue...and gobbled up trees and spit out their bones...
Honest!!!
Let the adventure continue...
