in the backyard

last night was a great night. we finished our patio, bought a really nice set of patio furniture and i harvested my first few cucumbers! it's still so fascinating to me that just 3 days ago i had to go to the grocery store and buy cucumbers, but now i just walk outside and there they are! i feel sorry for magnum because he'll never appreciate how cool that is... unless we had a mashed potato plant with a gravy bush in our backyard.

in relation to finishing our patio... one thing i've noticed over the last few years is how interesting it is to watch guys do any sort of physical workout or labor. when did it become standard for men to grunt? i remember first observing it back when i actually went to the gym. any time men would lift weights, they made this throaty growling sound with each hoist. it made me wonder if it was just something they did to draw attention to themselves and how many pounds they were lifting, or if it actually helped with the lifting process.

as we worked on the patio, i noticed both magnum and his dad engaging in the man grunt. i understand that they were carrying out some of the more difficult labor, but they're also bigger and stronger than i am. i think proportionately we were all working hard for our size, but i never felt compelled to make any sounds if i lifted something that was too heavy or struggled to shovel away the packed dirt. i guess i'll just add the man grunt to my infinite list of things i will never understand about men.