Power llama

Some day I hope we'll have a couple of llamas to do this job, but in the meantime, we have a teenager who enjoys honing her driving skills on the Toro tractor.

Erin tends to disappear out of our lives at times. It waxes and wanes; sometimes she's quite involved in family life, but other times, she prefers her own space. She's very private, enjoys spending lots of time alone in her cabin, and keeps very different hours than the rest of us much of the time (she's either up until 5 a.m., or up for the day at 5 a.m., it seems). Sometimes I miss having her around. I feel like saying "hey there, stranger!" when she wanders into the house to pee or grab a bite to eat. She's funny and fun to be with when she spends time with us. We actually get along pretty well most of the time. I wish she were around to interact with a bit more. And I confess I miss her partly because she's actually capable of providing a lot of good help.

Like when she becomes our power llama. She just gets out there and whizzes around on our acre of lawn. And before I think to check on her, the mowing is done, and I haven't had to lift a finger.