Bushhogging

Strange as it may seem, bushhogging gives me both a sense of Zen and a feeling of accomplishment. It took me years to reach that point, and I was happy to relive it again last week. As a bonus, I had an ongoing interaction with a persistent crow, who turned out to be pretty smart. 

I have bushhogged our 20-acre property for the past 25 years. If you have not spent time in the country, you might well ask, “Max, what the hell is bushhogging?” In fact, about 24 years ago, I mentioned I was going to bushhog to some friends, and our friend Liz said “Bushhogging – what is that? It sounds like something for Cathy.” and then broke into a laugh ;-). Actually, bushhogging is cutting the grass and brush in fields or pastures. You pull a special piece of equipment, called a bush hog, behind a tractor. A bush hog has two tough-as-hell rotary blades that not only cut grass, but small trees up to an inch or two thick. I usually bushhog our fields two or three times a year. 

When I first started bushhogging in 2000, it was pretty cool. I could use my brand-new John Deere tractor and while pulling the bush hog, do manly farm stuff in the fields. It felt good. It felt cool. I felt like a man among men.

After a few years of feeling manly, bushhogging went from “pretty cool” to becoming a chore. I worked full time then, and it was yet another job I needed to finish on the weekend. Not only was it not fun, it delayed the actual fun things I wanted to do. Plus, at about a day and and a half to bushhog the entire property and needing to do it three times a summer, it consumed a LOT of time. 

When I retired a little over a decade ago, bushhogging moved to a third phase for me – contentment and a feeling of accomplishment. Zen is not the right word, but it’s not far off. On the first trip around a pasture, you must pay close attention to what you are doing, as you are cutting right next to the fence line. Nothing ruins a day quicker than catching a fence post with the front-end-loader on the tractor, or with the bush hog itself. Trust me, I know. After the first pass, the job becomes more rote. You must pay attention, as a tractor can kill or hurt you if you don’t. Still, I find my mind slipping into a Zen Zone. I watch what I am doing, but my mind also goes to a neutral corner and relaxes. Full on zen? No. Mindless? Yes. Peaceful? Definitely. 

The sense of accomplishment comes when I finish the field. How many tasks do we carry out and see immediate results? Not so many these days. In business, in politics, in our lives – so many things take much longer to reach a sense of fulfillment. But, bushhogging a field? Oh yea baby. After finishing, I can look at the field and say to myself, “No matter what else happens, I accomplished this today and I see the results.”  Maybe it’s the state of today’s world. I look at the newly cut field and feel a sense of satisfaction. I know it is sort of stupid, but I will take my victories where I can. 

This past week while bushhogging, a third moment of joy occurred. I became friends of a sort with a crow. Seriously. As I made my loops around the field, I noticed a solitary crow in the field, a row or two over where I had just cut. As I approached on the tractor, he looked at me before slowly flying to a nearby fence, where he sat and watched me pass. A few minutes later, as I made my next loop, he was back in the field close to where I cut on my last trip. We looked at each other and he again flew to the nearby fence.

This continued for the next couple of hours, as I made each pass on that side of the field. Then, a thought came to me. This was one smart crow. Each time I passed, the bush hog surely decimated or disoriented any number of bugs and possibly mice. From the crow’s point-of-view, he had stumbled upon an all you can eat buffet. I was the waitstaff delivering a new smorgasbord of delights every couple of minutes.

We remained accomplices the rest of the afternoon. Strangely, no other crows, or other birds, joined it. Maybe the tractor and bush hog were too loud for the others, and this guy just did not care.

I will bushhog again sometime in late June or early July. It is not high on my list of fun things, but I do look forward to small pleasures. I will enjoy the feelings of contentment and accomplishment. I also wonder if my buddy, Mr/Ms Crow, will join me, and whether it will bring any friends, or keep the smorgasbord a secret between the two of us. 

Addendum:

• Crows are quite smart. Want to learn more about them?  Try this 2022 article from Popular Mechanics: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a34165311/crows-are-self-aware-like-humans/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_pop_md_pmx_hybd_mix_us_18343789675&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18343834699&gbraid=0AAAAADCyiSlwnL7QBEfEpUQj4Y-13ewnv&gclid=CjwKCAjw24vBBhABEiwANFG7yw4qKZcKIGaknpUKUJeaI2LEsU0Qk_Rx7ijuRKaBudzI_Jii5hRK8RoC3N4QAvD_BwE
• Zen is a school of Buddhism which emphasizes the practice of meditation as the key ingredient to awakening one’s inner nature, compassion, and wisdom, while attaining enlightenment. When I talk about a Zen Zone, I don’t really mean the full-on Buddhist Zen practice. I’m talking about finding a place of peace, contentment, and balance in my life.
• I wrote an earlier blog about Zen Zones. You can read it here: Where is your Zen Zone? That is, what do you do, or what place do you go to help you relax, find peace, and become accepting of what “is” in your life? Where do you go to bring balance to your life? I am lucky, in that I have a place that works for me in today’s crazy world […] Continue here:  https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2023/08/01/zen-zone/