mr. rayper.

so. i cannot stop laughing as i post this.

clint had several pine trees he wanted cut down in our backyard. and by several, i mean 30.

enter "mr. rayper. mule tree logger". at least, that's what his truck says.





these are the trees that the man and his two mules loaded off our land. he cuts them and takes them home for free. apparently, he then takes them to fordyce or something and gets money for the trees. i don't know. all i know is that i have convinced myself that mr. rayper and his mules checked every single tree for little birdies. and if they found any baby or momma birds, he transplanted them to another tree. safely. he and the mules. (in my mind i've named the mules fancy and jack.)

well, while mr. rayper chops the trees down (think...he bends down, squats down by the tree, begins cutting...and then out of nowhere, the man throws one of his arms out in the direction as to where the tree will land. but keep in mind that he is the ONLY one out there. i guess it's habit.) anyway, all this time, fancy and jack are just tied to a tree. standing around. slapping their big tongues up against that big metal rod in their mouth. you know, the bar that goes across to keep the harness on.

i'm pretty sure i'm not using any technical country boy terms here...but come on. i'm from camden. i know about rims and rap music. cool stuff like that. i, unlike my husband, don't know about horses or cows or if mules are only girls or boys. you know, like apparently bulls are always boys. something like that. anyway (somewhere my husband just had a heart attack), i don't know about the smell of hay or how to milk a cow or run a trot line. sue me.

this morning before pratt and i left for moms n more, we had a little talk with mr. rayper. and let me tell ya, pratt LOVED the man. he let him hold him and everything. it was probably fancy and jack that pratt really loved. but mr. rayper has left here today thinking that pratt loved him. and that's just peachy with me.

he was a sweet old man. and if you need any trees cut at your house, give mr. rayper a call. he's a hard worker. seriously. i mean, according to him, there is only "one other boy outta heber springs" who uses mules to cut and drag timber.

he told me to get a picture of pratt and him and the mules so that when pratt gets older he can brag to his friends about what he saw. so cute.

life only gets better out here in the country. i'm serious. slow and better.

oh. on a totally different note. look at my baby's hair. so curly. just like his daddy's. i LOVE it. i know i should cut it, but i can't bring myself to.



okay. happy tuesday.