Apparently, I passed some break point.
While I was gone for four days of turkey hunting and trout fishing, spring rains turned the backyard into something only Holsteins (the Oreo cows, not the late folk singer Fred and his brother) could love.
So after picking up the pre-schooler, I went to work on it.
And shucked my shirt.
I didn't think about it until about the third pass with my self-powered Sears reel mower. (yes, I sanctimoniously push a reel mower): ``Hey, is it all right if I am mowing shirtless?''
Thirty years ago when I was playing soccer three or four times a week, there would have been some vanity involved in shucking my shirt. But that was several waist sizes ago. I'll hit 52 (years, not waist size) this summer and a few of those decades have ended up as extra pounds.
But then I realized I just didn't care if anybody wanted to see me shirtless or not. It was simply a more comfortable way to mow the lawn today.
Years ago, I used to wonder why guys (well, guys who are like me now) would be drifting around in their boats on the Chain with their shirts off, or sitting in the bleachers oblivious to svelter bodies nearby.
My perspective has changed. Now, I'm simply all for anything that gets people outdoors, shirts or skins. If you don't like it, there are other places to go: different lakes or channels on the Chain, other seating areas in the bleachers.
All the same there will be no photo with this entry.
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