First thing in the morning, my wife got up and was heading out to go for a jog. I offered to join her since I didn't plan to go for a serious run anyway and she likes the company. Since it was cool, we took the dog along too.
After breakfast, all I really wanted to do is finish the lawn mowing: Yesterday I had run the chipper/shredder for however long it takes to consume one tank of gas. Even with gloved hands, the vibration from grinding branches rends hands weak and bruised feeling, if I did two tanks' worth it might do lasting damage. It was enough though to clear most the the debris left-over from falling a large pine tree last Memorial Day weekend. Before grinding, I had run the mower over the back & side yards and the machine was running fine, so I had high hopes for the front, which was especially lush since it hadn't been cut in three weeks. I got through maybe 1/3 of the front before the machine quit. I didn't have time to fix the mower because I had to get washed-up and go to the recital.
The older girl was in two numbers, one ballet and one hip hop. She really is built for ballet, she is graceful and slim rather than powerful and quick. The younger was in 4 numbers. Singing, acting, ballet and a sort of show dance. She is only 8, but loves the stage. It is revealing to see them up there since they don't practice this stuff at home, at least not when I am around.
One thing I could not help but notice in the endless (seeming) parade of dance routines was that dancing on stage does not favor the chunky. Plenty of slim girls lack either the talent or skill to be entertaining as dancers but if they have much skill then they are a pleasure to watch. There was no exception to the rule that stocky girls looked ridiculous on stage. I think this is due partly to physics and partly to aesthetics. The extra weight prevents high leaps or graceful moves. Dance costumes tend to be skin tight and this only looks good on a fit build. It was really too bad since clearly some of the dancers were well trained and the only thing preventing a pleasing performance was excess mass.
Today I really wanted to finish the lawn since I had made such good progress yesterday. It took about an hour to get the lawnmower running: Changed the oil, added gas, cleaned the spark-plug and then finally got it to go when I took the plug from the snow blower and put it into the mower. It ran like a champ for most of the rest and it was heavy-duty; grass was lush and shin-high. Toward the end, the mower got finicky again and oddly, would only run when I put my finger lightly over the choke-bulb hole. I put a bit of scotch-tape over the hole and this worked, though not as well as my finger.
I finished this work by early afternoon, but didn't feel like doing more.
1. I had already showered twice and didn't want to get filthy again.
2. I was tired.
3. We would be going out to dinner after today's performance and I didn't want to be in the middle of any large project when it came time to go.
4. Really, I think it all comes down to being tired and feeling like I had gotten as much done as could be expected.
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