(A reprise of a favorite post, perfect for summer’s official kickoff.)
I HAVE A LOVE-HATE THING GOING WITH MOWING: I always feel it’s a time-waster, but I am also always relieved there’s “mowing to be done” since that means legitimate escape from things like writing the book I have due. Mowing has immediate, tangible results; you cut grass blades, and they look cut. You try to write and, well, sometimes you don’t get any words. So tell me, do you like to mow? We’ve talked about this before, and instead of repeating myself I could have checked that you’re following the tomato-growing tips and using a rain gauge when you water and pruning your fading lilacs…or asked if you’re almost done with the May chores list. But it’s a holiday, so before I go out to you-know-what (also known as avoid writing), I’ll simply ask if you like to mow, and also say one more thing: My frogboys, all my innumerable sisters and I wish you a happy, healthy, safe, delicious long weekend, mowing or its avoidance notwithstanding.
I LOVE to mow!!!! It is a great cardio workout that you don’t have to think about (unless you use a ride on mower).
Hi, Maggie — and me, too. Except sometimes this year, when it has required twice a week to keep it from becoming a hayfield. A lot of hours! But meditative in a funny way. And good exercise, yes.
I don’t mow. Here in SoCal, water worries reign supreme. So I pulled out the lawn several years ago and left a heavily mulched space in its place. These days the area is a wide swath of california poppies… a golden reward!
I love to mow. I love the workout, and it is a way to visit the far reaches of my yard that I would never see otherwise.I get such a good feeling from pushing the mower.
Hi, Deborah. Me, too, USUALLY. Some weeks I get overwhelmed (when it’s hot like now!) but mostly I love it too.
I actually got on here tonight looking for an alternative to mowing. We live on a double lot, on the corner of a cul-de-sac. It’s a big yard: I don’t like for my not-so-young husband to mow it, and he doesn’t like for anyone else to. So, why hasn’t someone invented a short, walk-on-able, green ground cover? Look at the $$ that would be saved, not to mention the pollution reduction. It must be the mower and grass seed lobbies, not to mention the fertilizer and poison makers. Or maybe it’s just the late hour and I’m imagining government plots to keep us mowing ours. ^__^
If anyone knows of a plant that can replace grass and not need mowing, please let me know. It’s time to get the lawn ready for next year.
I used to despise mowing. We have a city lot and the yard isn’t very big – in theory it should take no more than 1/2 hour to mow everything . But our lawn mower was an old hand-me-down pull start gas thing, courtesy of my husband’s parents. Nice of them to give it to us when we first bought our house, but that thing was noisy, smelly, had no bagger or mulcher, and worst of all was next-to-impossible for me to start. When my husband was away and I had to mow I would resort to pushing the mower up against the deck steps (so it couldn’t go anywhere) and tying the handle “safety bar” down so I could use both my hands to pull with all my might on the cord.
I moaned and complained about that mower for 6 years, all the while my husband insisted that it worked fine and started great – sure it did, for him with his 6 foot long arms that could whip the motor into action with one pull of the cord. One day last year after spending an hour trying to start it – including driving to the gas station to buy new gas for it – I just snapped. When hubby came home I told him that 1) he had to go mow that bloody lawn and 2) we were getting a new mower and he could either help me pick it out or just live with whatever I chose.
Much to my delight even he had trouble starting the lawn mower that day, and shortly afterward he came home with a new cordless electric mower. It’s quiet, it mulches, it has a bag which we hardly ever use for grass but comes in handy for chopping up leaves and such, and best of all it starts with the push of a button.
Now I love mowing!
A convert! Hi, Becca, and thanks for your story. I sort of miss mowing the last two weeks since the season here ended. But April will come soon enough again I suppose… :)