but – I Like Mowing!

Mowing is like clearing snow – it’s a chore where no one bugs you.  My snow clearing days are over now, but the mowing is still alive and well – or at least was until some bright spark suggested that the kids should do the mowing. What clearly went past the engineer’s brain was that I liked mowing!! Alas, the kids  have also taken to the ‘chore’ and will happily volunteer to go out there.

It seems that we all share the same thoughts – it’s a valid chore that has to be done, takes a while and no one bugs you. I use it for chill out time and thinking through irritations etc. they get attached to an ipod thingy and happily wander up and down the lawn ‘plugged in’.

So yesterday I actually got my chance to mow before anyone could volunteer to do it, or think of something else for me to do.

Apart from the ‘chill out’ part of sitting for 90mins atop a garden tractor, there are other advantages. One is that I get up-close and personal with all the property and become reaquainted with the bumps, hollows, drainage problems and find out how far the ivy has escaped the undergrowth at the side of the grass.  Then there was a little dahlia that had just come into bloom along one side- I would have noticed that anyway, but the first sighting of a new bloom is always fun to see. I noticed where the fescue really is struggling even after a moist and mild summer, and how far the dratted loriope had spread from under one of the trees. I waved to two neighbors – one mowing, one jogging – no need to chat though as we were all ‘busy’ but not so busy that we couldn’t wave and connect.

So mowing is not so much a ‘who gets the short straw’ chore, but rather a ‘who gets there first’ , and yesterday I got there first and had a great time!

90 minutes of peace!