It's true!Last year, after nearly 14 years of marriage and letting my husband take on the job of mowing the lawn, I decided to have him teach me the ways of the LAWN MOWER. There were two reasons for this. One being that I felt as a strong woman, that I needed to KNOW HOW, and the other being that many times my yard was looking less than pretty. When you live next to a person with a pristine yard ; one that is completely well maintained (by outside folks may I add), it does add a bit of pressure to keep up so to speak.
What I found about mowing the lawn was that this was a job that would require hours of my time. No, I do not live on acres of land, but I do have a corner lot with a fairly large front, side, and backyard. Any time I look to do the yard, it will certainly require an uninterrupted block of time.
Did I just say uninterrupted?
Why YES! I did say that.
This leads me to my favorite part about mowing the lawn. It means that I need time to myself to accomplish the task. It means getting sweaty and using muscle power (well, just a little). It means that I can put my iPod on and listen to a book, music, or podcast for a lengthy period of time. It also means that when my children come outside to ask me a question or tell me a NEED, I can PRETEND that I can't hear a thing. I'll point to my ears and the lawn mower and direct them back to their dad, the house, or an older sibling.
This job of mowing is also gratifying to me. I can almost compare it to vacuuming my house ... one of my favorite jobs (if that is even possible). I love the look of a clean, freshly vacuumed home ... one with vacuum lines. The same can be said for the yard. I love going over uneven grass and neatly trimming it to an acceptable point. Mostly I love it when I can actually mow the lawn BEFORE my neighbor and actually see a slightly nicer looking yard ... even if it is for less than a day.
My husband has actually requested that he get back this job. Maybe he misses his alone time. I was thinking that we could alternate, but so far this year he seems too busy. Either that or the weekends have not been cooperating with us. Looks like I may just need to do the mowing today. Darn ;)
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We also have neighbors who have an immaculate yard. You know...the ones who mow 3 times a week (I'm not exaggerating at all. I counted last week because it just seemed they were always out there)! Soon as we mow our grass, they're out there mowing theirs even though they just did it a couple of days before. He also keeps his deck lower on his mower so it always appears that our grass is longer than theirs! Drives me crazy. We're too busy to tackle 3 1/2 acres of grass more than once a week. I keep telling myself that it's their HOBBY and that their kids are grown so they have more time on their hands to make myself feel better. Honestly, their grass looks like a golf course or a professional ball field. I think he has some kind of mower that makes the stripes in his yard. They are nice people, so I'll forgive them of their mowing addiction!
I also try to keep perspective that at least they MOW their grass! We used to live next to people who never did and let it grow as high as their hips. So, I keep trying to keep that in mind when I hear the annoying drone of the neighbors lawn mower. At least they mow...at least they mow...at least they mow (while taking deep relaxing breaths)! ;)
When Leo was gone I HAD to mow. I had to keep the yard up. I felt very empowered. I actually changed the oil, the filter and took the blade off to get it sharpened. Yep, definitely something we women should know how to do.