More about Justin

So, seeing Justin recently got us thinking about what a cool dude he is. The 5 summers that he worked for us when he was in high school were fun summers for us girls. As mentioned before, we were VERY annoying little grade-school girls that followed him and pestered him constantly. I am sure that he looked forward to long days in the hayfield just to get away from us!

However, he was always a good sport and we had so much fun with him. He could do no wrong in our eyes. He could do cool stuff like a series of backflips across the entire yard. He had a Walkman and listened to Def Lep and Metallica and Alice Cooper. He also teased us as much as we pestered him. He would also take us fencing with him. We would sit in the back of the pickup and hand him staples while listening to metal music on his boom box.

One time, Justin was going to mow the lawn on the riding mower. Annie must have been taunting him or something. I don't remember exactly how it ensued, but he finally challenged Annie (probably about 5- 7 years old at the time) to a contest. He marked off a tiny chunk of the lawn for Annie to cut with her jack-knife in the time he mowed the rest of the yard. Now, us girls always packed a nice, dull jack-knife pretty much all the time. She had a particularly dull, little, tiny jack-knife she packed around and would proudly whip out when something needed cutting. So the game was on. She wielded that dull little knife over the patch of grass like a machete through the jungle. All the while, Justin would drive past her on the lawn tractor in road-gear, making her scream and cut even faster. Ris and I cheered and hustled Annie on like she was in the Olympic finals.

Of course Justin was going to finish WAY ahead of Annie, but looking back, I am sure he stalled and drove in circles so she could finish.