Target Fixation and other fun things

Mark Thorson photo

Anyone that flies and airplanes or rides motorcycles knows about target fixation. I feel that anyone who drives a car should know as well, as we have all had to deal with it. Now I can say that it also is a factor in mowing the lawn and having the dogs.

Basically it is a fact that you will drive where you look. If you see a deer, you MUST force yourself  to look away, or you will ride/drive into the deer. We have all had the sudden realization of a monster pot hole in the road and driven right into it. My dear daughter destroyed her now husband's rim doing just that. Target fixation. In cars it is more likely to happen as one of those spur of the moment things; it seems like on the motorcycle we notice it from a farther distance yet really fixate. It takes an actual head turn, at times, to get out of the almost hypnotic effect of Target Fixation.

Today I could not stand the long grass anymore. Allergies or not. Show weekend or not. The grass had to be mowed. There seems to always be that one land mine that the scooper misses. Yes, that would be moi. I decided to do the lesser fine mowing using the riding lawnmower. It just doesn't do a great job, but it does get me a bit farther from the grass, and I was hoping farther from the allergens. As I rounded the last track it was there. That last land mine. Sadly I fixated on it. I carried that thing on my front tire all the way across the yard. Twice.

So now I sit here at the computer. I am wheezing and itching. Nugget needs a bath tomorrow. The lawn is mown and I will not lose the corgwyn in the dog pen any longer. Now of course, the weed whacking that is lacking is much more apparent, but I think that will need to wait until after the trip to deliver the Nugg-boy. Oh, and I SHOULD be able to spot the doggy mines easier. Except that one that always seems to be missed.

So tomorrow I clean inside the house. Might as well add the dust allergy to the mix. The wonderful thing is that my house no longer stinks of Kate's housebreaking issues. I got a candle from a friend that is touted to eliminate pet odors. By golly, it really works!!

So, on Sunday morning, really, really, really, early, I will load up Nugget and head south. I realized I need to leave at 2:30 to get there by 6:30. I may be sleeping most of the way to the drop off point in eastern Oregon. I doubt I will sleep at all tomorrow night.

Nugget doesn't know that he will be meeting another "wife" down in California. A little reward for a job well done? We can hope that is the case. My nerves are starting to kick in now. One week from now he will have the first under his belt. My fingers are crossed and my breath will be held.

I have been told that I am to whisper "red" to a part of him that I don't normally talk to. I do, however, have "red" spread across my front lawn. How's that for a way to tie this post together and end it?

Oh yeah. More Nugglets in making.