Failure or Lesson Learned? 🤕

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Today started late.

Really late.

It was after 12 PM before we finally headed into town, but honestly that seems to happen a lot lately at Memory Lane.

Lunch Before Disaster 🍔

By the time we made it to town, lunch came first.

We stopped at Peppercorn North at the local golf course and had:
, A chicken sandwich
, A roast beef sandwich

Both were actually very good and definitely hit the spot before what turned out to be a much more eventful afternoon than expected.

After lunch we headed over to Agway to finally rent a garden tiller.

The Garden Tiller Experience

Once we got back to the farm and unloaded it, I rolled the tiller into the garden and fired it up.

Let me start by saying this:

I have never used a tiller before.

This particular tiller was a rear tine tiller, which from what I understand is designed more for tougher soil conditions. Since our garden area had not really been maintained in years, I figured this was probably the better choice.

The tiller actually started easily and I kept it in first gear to take things slow.

At first it barely seemed to dig at all.

So I made several passes.

After the second and third pass it definitely started breaking up the soil better, but it still seemed to be digging pretty shallow.

There was a depth bar on the back that appeared bent, so without really knowing much about what I was doing, I removed it and tried again.

That was a mistake 😅

“I Got Hit in the Face at the Bar…”

I would like to say I got hit in the face at the bar.

The reality is:
I got hit in the face with a bar.

The second I started tilling without the depth bar installed, the machine instantly dug much deeper into the ground.

Then in a flash it took off.

The tiller lurched forward so aggressively that it literally pulled me with it before I even had time to react or let go.

A split second later I flew face first directly into the control bar.

Needless to say, that ended with:
, A bleeding nose
, A busted eyebrow
, Dirt everywhere
, My pride slightly injured 😂

So back to the house we went to patch me up.

Failure or Lesson Learned?

But I am not exactly the type to quit because of a little blood.

The garden still needed to be tilled, so back out we went.

The second time around, I changed my approach completely.

Instead of gripping the handles tightly, I kept my palms flatter against the control bar so if something happened mechanically or it lunged again, I could step away from it faster.

And eventually I figured out exactly what was happening.

The tines spin faster than the drive wheels.

So when the tines suddenly hit:
, A rock
, Hard packed soil
, A root
, Anything solid underground

The machine can suddenly lurch forward aggressively.

Later, after finishing the entire garden, I was able to prove that theory multiple times, but by then I was more prepared and much better able to control it.

Honestly, this may have looked like a failure at first, but it was really just another lesson learned.

And probably one I will not forget anytime soon 🤕

Abundant Life

The garden was packed with life, its like they are all waiting to get to work.

Fire Time 🔥

Now the work is done.

The fire is going.

And chicken wings are on the menu for dinner tonight.

Just another day of learning things the hard way at Memory Lane.