Finished up the small section of wall that I started yesterday (see photo above) and then started clearing out the section where I plan on putting the steps. Tried getting the huge bottom step stone --- one that's been sitting on an embankment for a couple of years now --- loaded on an old appliance hand truck. I only succeeded in flipping it with a pry bar a couple of times by myself. Two hands just aren't enough to corral several hundred pounds of stone. But, with four hands, it is now loaded and ready to go for tomorrow.
After that, I figured that since I was already sweaty and dirty from the wall work, it was time to mow the lawn. As my philosophy goes (especially in the summer months) I like to "earn my shower" as a way to mentally push myself to do things that need to be done.
For the past couple of years now, after reading some lawn care manuals, I've been letting the grass grow a little longer in general, and cutting it higher than I used to. This way, the roots develop better and the lawn looks much healthier than it did. After doing a deal of grass seeding earlier in the spring, the place is getting closer to the imagined ideal.
After mowing and a quick shower, I went to my brother's down the road where we're watching my niece while they're at Reserve weekend. Made some pasta salad, a lettuce salad and hot dogs, and we finished up a strawberry-rhubarb crisp that I made a couple of days ago. Making food in other people's kitchens is always uncomfortable to me. You don't have the same tools, the same pantry and refrigerator staples, or even the same type of stove. By the by, propane gas range is best and gives the cook more control.
While there, I watched a show about Nikola Tesla on the History Channel, one of the only things on cable television that is worthwhile. I've read about Tesla before and am convinced that in a few hundred years, if mankind is still kickin', he will (or should be) known as the greatest practical and theoretical scientist ever.... Similar to how we hold Leonardo da Vinci in such high regard today. Perhaps his boldest idea was wireless electricity, which was also his biggest failure. Successful on a small scale (e.g. illuminating an unconnected light bulb), the large-scale experiment at the Wardenclyffe Tower was "never fully operational and not completed due to economic problems." I wonder if someone will ever get it to work and what such a world would be like. In an age that must rapidly become obsessed with finding alternate forms of electricity and energy (and possibly distribution methods), Tesla is an excellent role model, even with his personal quirks and disorders. Among Tesla's OCD quirks were an obsession with the number 3 or numbers divisible by 3, and nursing injured pigeons. Rebuffed by Edison early on over some such payment, Tesla worked for a year digging ditches in NYC. He didn't explain things to others; he just saw things and knew things, and when given the resources, he showed his brilliance. Fascinating how what is called a 'disorder' or 'disease' is the very thing that leads to the works of some of the greatest thinkers and doers. Their special way of seeing the world through their illness also enables them to see their metier on a different level than anyone else, even if it's not recognized by their contemporaries.
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