Clearing the Trails

This morning my husband left on his smaller tractor to go down the road and mow the bottoms at Polecat Creek. After a while I went down to check on him and bring him home for lunch.

He was mowing the far bottom field to the left when I got there—the field I think might be a little bit hainted. Getting to this field requires crossing two creeks.

I took some pictures of the local flora (didn't see any fauna). See the paw-paws on the tree below?

Here's a closer look:

Some of the weeds were up pretty high. Below, he's in the closer field—the one between the creek and the graveyard hill.

Paw-paw trees grow along this side of the creek, too.

After he'd mowed part of this field, he parked the tractor near the branch and came home for lunch.

When I brought him back, he started to mow the small bottom on the right side. 

He crossed the little branch and went past the black walnut. I don't think we have paw-paws on this side.

The first swath he cut shows how high the weeds were.

Below, he circles the field and comes back along the creek.

He didn't mow one spot. It's a bee-hole. Even though something (a skunk, probably) had dug out the hole, it was still full of bees. They looked kind of like yellow jackets, but they could have been hornets. I wasn't about to get close enough to make a positive identification.

Meanwhile, he continued mowing.

I decided to return home. But I left the Tracfone with him just in case.

Good thing I did. About a half hour later, I got a call. I couldn't understand much of what he was saying. Reception in the bottoms in non-existent, so he had to walk to the high field. I could understand just enough to know that he wanted me to come get him.

When I got to the bottom, I saw this:

He'd been mowing on uneven ground covered by weeds that made the terrain look even. The tractor slid sideways and down. Luckily it didn't overturn.

There was no way to get it out with my truck.

So, we headed home to get the BIG tractor. It didn't take him long to hook the tractors together.

Soon the little tractor was free. Luckily, it wasn't a bit damaged.

As I left, I could see him start bush-hogging again.

Now the bottoms are ready for horseback riders and hikers. 

And a certain border collie and her beagle sidekick.

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