“My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance.”
On spring Saturday mornings, my neighborhood was filled with the sounds of fathers mowing lawns with their push mowers. All we could hear were whirrs and clicking sounds. After that came the scraping sounds of rakes. I always felt reassured in a way. The world was as it should be on a spring Saturday morning.
Today is a day much like yesterday. The morning air is cool and filled with sunlight. Some leaves on the backyard trees are in sun while others are caught in shadow. I keep going to the deck just to stand a while in the beauty of the day. While there, I’ve been watching the cardinal couple. They must have a nest nearby as they are always on one or another of the branches by my gate.
I scared a spawn this morning. It was on the back side of the feeder and neither one of us saw the other. When I was right at the rail, it leapt and I jumped.
My lawn is being mowed. The guy has one of those standing mowers which make so much noise. It took him all of five minutes to do my lawn. I can also hear other mowers and edgers being used around the neighborhood. The Saturday ritual continues but is different, noisier, much less personal, much less fun to hear.
When I was a kid, life was serendipitous and spontaneous. I had no obligations, no chores and no places to be. I never needed a list. Now I make lists. They’re my way to stay organized and push myself a bit as I love sloth days. This has been a busy week for me mostly doing errands so today is an around the house day. I have a few flowers to plant, a table to paint, a really small table, a few feeders to clean, the ones for the orioles and the hummingbirds, and my deck needs sweeping again. I have decided, though, not to put them on a list. That would make me obligated.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: power mowers, push lawn mowers
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May 30, 2015 at 11:09 am
My parents bought their first and only house in 1955 in North Dallas. It was a rambling three bedroom two bath ranch style house on a large lot. I had never seen my father show any interest in horticulture until he had a house. Every Saturday morning in the growing season he would work in that yard. Our lawn was a perfectly manicured green carpet that could rival the 18th green at the Agusta National golf course. Our shrubbery around the foundation was perfectly trimmed every week and there were no weeds anywhere. Our lawn would choke them out and my dad would keep the beds weed free. This was my father’s pride and joy. After my mother died in 1961 my father sold that house and lived in apartment for the rest of his life. He never again showed any interest in growing anything.
A line of thunderstorms rolled through this morning probably making this May the wettest May since records have been kept in Dallas for 116 years. If we don’t break the record before Monday we will be close. Next week there is no rain forecast except a slight chance on Friday. I guess I will have to shelve the plans for building an Ark. 🙂
May 30, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Bob,
At our house on the cape, my dad didn’t have a lawn. The house came with a front yard filled with pine chips. We did have a back yard, and my father religiously tended it. It was when they moved that he then had a front yard of grass, wonderful grass. He tended that and the window boxes with a great deal of pride.
This is the second driest May here since they started keeping records. The forecast is for maybe rain tomorrow but definitely rain on Monday and Tuesday. I’m glad as everything is so dry.
May 30, 2015 at 11:18 am
Joni had a brain aneurism, why didn’t they say that ????
I fully understand my role and agree with one of the two banner items. We are a very simple gender, music, sports, the remote control and the odd beer. Sometimes we need instructions, sometimes we don’t.
May 30, 2015 at 12:13 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I just read about that myself. They were holding everything close to the vest, and I have no idea why.
I understand many men don’t do vehicle maintenance, my father bring one of them; in fact, none of the men I know maintain their own vehicles. They are, as you are, carers of the lawn.
I totally agree with your assessment of your gender.
May 30, 2015 at 1:03 pm
I am not a shade tree mechanic. Every time I but a wrench in my hand I have to stop and think, righty tighty, lefty loosey.
In the early 1950s my father was driving his bosses car. It wouldn’t start so he got a mechanic from a gas station across the street to look at the car. He turned one screw one turn and the car started. My father asked him how much he owed the man. The mechanic replied five dollars. My father said how did he arrive at such a high price for such a simple repair. The mechanic said, it was a dollar to turn the screw and four dollars to know which screw to turn. I don’t have a clew which screw to turn so I leave it to experts.
May 30, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Bob,
My expertise is also limited to righty tighty, lefty loosey. I keep magnets on the side of my fridge with the names of all the places I call to get things fixed. I would never dare play with anything under the hood except to refill the water for the windshield.
My dad once tried to fix a toilet. He had to call a plumber who wanted to know who destroyed the innards.
May 30, 2015 at 1:19 pm
My list for this evening:
Beer (Hövels from Dortmund) in fridge – done.
Prepare Heringsstip (cold herring meal) – done.
Boil potatoes – to-do.
Turn on TV – in less than an hour.
National soccer cup final – cheer for Dortmund!
May 30, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Birgit
We are watching the FA Cup Final and have a room full of guys making noise and drinking beer.
Come on you Dortmund !
May 30, 2015 at 1:57 pm
Hedley, sounds perfect. Have fun! Back to TV, 4 minutes …
May 30, 2015 at 2:21 pm
Dortmund on, but missed the goal….better than the German entry to the Eurovision Song Contest
May 30, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Damn.
May 30, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Damn x2
May 30, 2015 at 3:58 pm
🙁
May 30, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Birgit,
It sounds like a wonderful evening. I imagine my nephew too is watching the FA Cup Final. My Colorado clan are all soccer people.
May 30, 2015 at 1:32 pm
Birgit, it’s on ESPN3 at 2.00 pm est. Us folks here in Detroit will NOT cheer for a team owned by Volkswagen
Last match for Klopp…come on Dortmund
May 30, 2015 at 1:34 pm
We’ve had a rather nasty day here, mostly cold and rainy but we did have half an hour with sunshine and the heat together with the hu+igh humidity made it feel like we were walking in a steam bath 🙂 The warm summer weather that they had predicted seems to miss us anyway, it looks like the highest we’ll get next week is 55-56F. This is one of the chilliest and wettest May’s we’ve had in a long time.
Nothing much to do today because of the rain. I made some vanilla ice cream and taken a few walks with the dogs. I also watched the latest Grimm and now it’s getting nasty, great but nasty 🙂 They dug up Adalinds mother and Juliet didn’t want to take the potion they had made to her. I can’t wait to see next episode next Saturday.
We had the lawn at our summer cottage and we had to use a scythe the first times every year 🙂 After that I tried to use the old mower as often as I could.
Have a great day!
Christer.
May 30, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Christer,
I know exactly what you mean by steam bath weather. It is August here when that happens. Even sitting still makes you sweat. It is warm now but the breeze makes it a lovely day.
Grimm is finished until the fall here. You have a great episode coming, the finale. I do love that TV program.
I just pay my landscaper to mow.. I used to years ago, also with a push mower, but it is so much easier just to pay someone now.
Have a good evening!
May 30, 2015 at 4:37 pm
https://youtu.be/fNhVX7GSw8I?t=146
May 30, 2015 at 6:08 pm
Gnu,
I bought this first album. I loved the sound with such an odd combination of singers. Listening to this, I wonder why I didn’t buy more.
May 30, 2015 at 6:26 pm
Hi Kat,
There was a stretch of time when I couldn’t use the power mower because the dust it kicked up irritated my upper airways so that I could barely breath. Same thing would happen when I used a vacuum cleaner or brushed my horse. I had to wear a dust mask for all those chores. The push mower didn’t kick up any dust so that’s what I used to mow. It was nice to mow in a quiet and dust-free environment but my lawn is composed of grass and other things and the push mower only cut the grass. The other things got rolled over but soon recovered their upright and locked position. The lawn looked very shaggy most of the time.
Now I have someone mow for me and am content to let them do their thing over most of the lawn. There’s a section in the back which I’m trying to reseed so I don’t let them take the big mower across that because it rips up any bare spots. I use my cordless electric mower which is almost as quiet as the old push mower but it cuts all the things.
Today was beautiful for most of it. The afternoon got a bit hot and uncomfortable but now it’s cooling down and the breeze is helping a lot.
Enjoy the evening.
May 30, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Hi Caryn,
I am allergic to grass mold so I usually got a rash after I mowed. It went away quickly but it was a great excuse to have someone mow. Since then my landscaper who does everything: trimming, mowing, planting, fertilizing and whatever else needs doing. I do buy all the flowers and tell him where I want them, but that is the extent of my participation.
It has been cool all day, 10˚ or more than Boston. The other day we were 17˚ cooler, the most I remember. You’re getting rain starting tomorrow sometime, but it seems we are not. Too bad as we need it badly just as you do.
Have a great evening!
May 30, 2015 at 10:30 pm
http://i.somethingawful.com/u/garbageday/2015/Phriday/Cat_Movies/0haiThere_03.gif
May 30, 2015 at 10:34 pm
Gnu,
The man is decidedly mad. I laughed.