Living in the country isn't bad, except for the damned grass.
I had actually been looking for a large lot with a manufactured home, something that was maybe in my budget when the small farm had come on the market.
A older couple had lived in the tiny little A-frame, the husband had passed and the lady was moved to full time care in a living center.
After almost a full year of sitting vacant, the family put the 5 acres and house on the market. I happened to be standing in the real estate office when the listing came in.
The dumpy real estate lady had looked at the listing, then pushed it aside as she shuffled through stacks of double wides and units in trailor parks that didn't interest me.
I spotted the price tag, $75,000. "Fixer upper" it said. Hell, I could fix stuff. I had a bit more than half the money, and there was always the bank. So we drove out to look. Just coming down the long driveway past the little creek in the pasture below, I was hooked!
So here I was, a single guy with a A-frame house that ran on wood heat, no bedroom, just a loft upstairs on one end. "Fixer upper" they had said. Meant it, too!
Perfect.
Except for the damned grass. 5 acres of it. And Blackberries, no shortage of those. Well, there was a lean-to barn, the description said "needs repair" Shed is a better term, and "lean" was a good description. I had that stiffened up in no time, found a bundle of shingles in there to patch the roof on the A-frame. I had discovered the leaks in the roof right over the bed the first time it rained. I rooted the nest of Raccoons living under the house out of there, much to their chagrin, sealed up the hole where they were getting in.
But within a month, things were pretty good.
I bought a broken down old riding mower, some tinkering rewarded me with it firing up and the blades worked, so I attacked the 3' tall stuff in the upper field. There was a half wild Cow in the lower pasture that came with the place. It had water from the creek and all the grass it could eat. I had thought about the cow being out there a year with no one around. After trying to catch it just once, I realized it really DID intend to stomp me into the ground so I just left it alone. Besides, it had horns and I didn't. At least I didn't have to mow that grass.
My upper fence line nestled against a line of houses, all the back yards faced my place. First I walked the line, picking up rib bones and sticks, chunks of metal that I assume the neighbors no longer wanted. I knew during the dry season the grass would be a danger. I figured a nice wide firebreak would do the job of keeping them safe and me out of court. So I was cutting a few feet, letting the machine clear out, then a few feet more.
As I got to the end of the first row, I saw a flash of color, looked over. A very nice looking lady was stretched out on a lawn chair, she had obviously been sunning herself topless. She was shiny and slick with oil. She had grabbed a towel to cover her breasts, and she seemed just a bit irritated at my noisy interruption.
I nodded and continued on. Reaching the end of the row, I turned to go back, she covered up again as I approached. This went on for over an hour, finally she jumped up and flounced off towards the house, clutching the towel to her chest. Her body language displayed her upset. I looked her over as she walked away. Jet black hair hung well past her shoulders, the dark skin was a full contrast to the lime green bikini bottoms she wore.
Beautiful! But obviously upset with me.
Well, yea. I was making a racket and intruding on her privacy, still. I needed the damned grass cut!
Two tanks of fuel and I had the job done, I knew I would need to do it again in a week or so. I put the machine away and went back to my house.
I kept thinking of her up there, so I went upstairs and looked out the window. Sure enough, from there I could look down into her yard about 150 feet away. She was out again, laying back with the same lime green bottoms on. I got some glimpses of her bare breasts through the bushes that partially obscured her.
I went and got my field glasses, a nice powerful set. I knew that I shouldn't do that, but hell, I was young and male. Through the binoculars it was like I was standing right next to her, but the lens must have caught the light. She suddenly sat up, grabbed the towel, looked my way and gave me the finger.
Embarrassed, I put them away and went back to puttering around my place.
Two weeks later, more damned grass. I wasn't looking forward to it, it was hot as hell out. I pulled on a pair of blue jeans and that was it, started the mower and began to cut. I had a Dog by now, a little Terrier that happily became a family member in just a few days. She was running around in the big field sticking her nose into everything.
I got up close to the lady's fenceline, sure enough, here she sat, that same towel clutched to her chest, a pissed off look on her face.
I shut the mower down, introduced myself.
"Hello. I'm Dan. Sorry if I am disturbing you."
"Sofia. Are you going to be long?"
"I need to keep the grass down in case of a fire."
"Oh. Well, hurry up."
I just nodded, fired up my mower. Hell, I wasn't going dead slow deliberately, only 1st gear worked. I was conscious of my bare upper body, soaked with sweat and streaked with dirt that flew up as I mowed. I pointedly pretended to ignore her as I went by her yard.
She seemed to relax but kept the towel close at hand, each time I got near she pulled it over herself. I somehow managed to not turn my head and look, although I was aware of her out of the corner of my eye.
Just as I got to the end and turned, I spotted my dog suddenly go all excited and take off. There was a flutter of black in the grass in front of her, then she was on something, pinned it to the ground.
I jumped off the mower and trotted over to investigate. She had a half grown crow pinned down with her front paw. I reached down and picked it up, it was obviously hurt. The side of it's skull was bulging out, there was what looked like a BB pellet wound.
Sofia was watching intently as I looked the bird over.
"What's that?" she called out.
"A baby crow, it's hurt."
"Oh, let me see?"