Day 15 - Blue Paint

Kerry woke up in a rampage. She was set to paint the bedroom blue. Erin Clare arrived the night before and was staying with us for the week while Ryan Northington’s parents were visiting from Texas. When Kerry’s mind is made up that she wants to do something, she is going to do it, quite the same as myself. It was easiest to go along with her plan and stay out of the way.

The three of us loaded the boat and headed into town. Erin Clare took care of a few things at the library in preparation for her year in England. Kerry and I grabbed some breakfast. We picked up our supplies at the hardware store and headed back to the island.

I did not want much to do with painting, so I continued my shore line clearing project, while the girls painted. I took apart the chainsaw and cleaned the air filter. It was a finicky machine, stubborn, and prone to easily flooding and not starting. I let it sit for twenty minutes while another large thunderstorm brewed on the horizon.

We sat on the edge of the thunderstorm line for most of the afternoon. Finally, the chainsaw started and I began to clear. I felled three trees, the sky turned black, and it started to pour. I hurriedly retreated inside the cottage to wait out the storm. It was violent and thick. It rained with fury for about thirty to forty minutes and just as quickly as the sky had blackened it was once again a beautiful opaque blue with puffy white clouds. I grabbed the saw and headed back outside.

It is immensely satisfying to watch the trees come down, throw them in a huge pile, and haul them away with the tractor. I enjoy using the saw, but most of all driving the old nineteen sixties red and rusty Massey Ferguson tractor. She is an impeccable machine that has worked hard through the years. She starts right up without so much as a hiccup, and I am amazed at the ease with which she pulls seemingly intolerably heavy loads.

I spent the good part of four straight hours working with the saw and tractor.

When I was finished, I set out for a run. I wanted to test my current state of physical ability, and painfully discovered I have a long way to go. I spent so much time kayaking this fall and spring, that I spent little time running or working out in other ways.

I started running for the town dock. My legs were heavy and my knees sore, but I was pleased with how I was moving along. When I got to the town dock, I felt like going farther so I headed to the school house. When I reached the school house I was about 2.5 miles out. My legs felt like lead, and I was moving along quite slowly. It was a long painful slog back to the cottage, but I made it without stopping.

It was a start.