As I’m sure Mom would tell you, I was never really eager to mow the lawn back in high school. I would certainly do it, and do a reasonable job at it, but I was never asking Dad, “hey, can I mow the lawn for you?” In the past year, however, I’ve found that I kinda missed it. Back in Kirksville or St. Louis, I never had the opportunity or the need to mow any lawns. For all intents and purposes, I hadn’t actually mowed a lawn in about 10 years before moving to Iowa. A lot changes in a decade, and apparently, over that decade, I learned to enjoy mowing.
We have a pretty large yard up here in Iowa, and only a self-propelled push mower to do it with (plus an electric trimmer). It takes me almost 2 hours to mow the whole thing, usually. Thankfully, the yard is pretty flat, except for a plethora of molehills. When I tell people up here that I do this lawn with a push mower, they get wide-eyed, probably chuckling in their heads with disbelief. Somehow, I don’t really see it the same way.
Mowing the lawn has become an excuse to go outside for me and get disconnected. No need for my headphones, no need for my TV, no need for my computer. I can’t really use those things while I’m mowing (I probably could use headphones, but I’d have to turn them up loud enough that I’d hasten my need for hearing aides, so I’m avoiding them in this case). It’s one of the few times that I force myself to go without any form of technology, let alone one of the few times I ever get any exercise.
I will probably change my tune by August, but right now, there’s nothing like sitting down with a beer while surveying a freshly trimmed yard after 2 hours of work.
Oh, and here’s a random picture of Brooke and Meg. 🙂
Ben uses a Fiskars Momentum reel mower. It works really well and he likes the lack of noise pollution! Then again, it only takes him about 45 minutes with our yard. Maybe he’d change his tune if his yard was as big as yours.
great pics – both of them!! Satisfaction of a job well done! You’re all growed up kid!