Around 1:00 p.m., I was leisurely watering our plants (mostly flowers in pots) in the front of our driveway with rain water collected in big containers (over 100 gallons from all the rain in the past week) -- when the roar of engines coming from the south lawn of Jefferson Park – directly in front of our house on Cooley Avenue diverted my attention.

 

The roar was from a New Holland farm tractor pulling a Bush Hog metal cutter mowing the grass – operated by a Cleveland City worker – a nice bearded gentleman.

 

I crossed Cooley Avenue and took a few photographs.

 

The lead photograph shows the equipment between the twin maples – directly in front of our house.

 

The worker spotted me – brought his tractor near the maples and turned off the engine.

 

I told him what I was up to – gathering information for an article for the benefit of our community.

 

I added that a week ago – on July 8th -- there was an event where the seven candidates running for Mayor -- were sitting on a stage – in the area where he had just mowed -- how it rained from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m., how the rain stopped, and how the sun came out for the 2-hours the candidates discussed the issues facing our city.

 

He was able to correctly identify me from my appearance (beard and turban) and wanted to know whether I visited the Sikh temple on the other side of town.

 

I responded by saying that I was not the religious type -- no regular trips to the gurdwara (a Sikh temple) – but that I believed in helping our community. I added that I was a volunteer teacher at a local CMSD preK-8 school -- and that this coming year would be my 16th year teaching.

 

He said he had been with the city for 2-years and previously he worked at the airport.

 

I got information about the equipment. The tractor had huge rubber wheels – about 21 inches wide (measured them with my hand) -- and pulled the cutter.

 

I complained that the wheels leave ruts in our lawn. He responded by saying that a smaller and lighter tractor would not work because it would likely get stuck in the wet soil and would have to be pulled out.

 

I thanked him for the work he was doing – and wished him a good day.

 

Another nice day in Cleveland!

 

Enjoy the summer!

 

 

Listed below are links to recent articles pertaining to Jefferson Park’s south lawn and the twin maples:

 

1. JEFFERSON PARK’S TWIN MAPLES DURING TODAY'S THUNDERSTORM

 

2. DIRT BIKE RIDER -- RIDING IN CIRCLES IN JEFFERSON PARK

 

3. PROMISES! PROMISES! @ JEFFERSON PARK MAYORAL CANDIDATES FORUM IN CLEVELAND, OHIO