A Job Well Done

I love to cut the grass.  The satisfaction of a freshly mowed lawn is enough on its own.  That it is accompanied by the smell of freshly cut grass and the solitude of the job is frosting on the cupcake.

So much of my life features unfinished projects —— that’s the nature of working with children, of course, and it’s the assumption of every day spent with students.  To find tasks that can be completed is the way that I give myself space to manage the uncertainty of my work.  Mowing the lawn is foremost on this list.

The job is satisfying and tidy.  Time behind the mower is time to think and let my mind wander.  I never grow weary of the job, which is nice because in the warm and wet weather of Summer, the lawn never grows weary of growing.

Mulch Mower for the Win

Between the tall sycamore and oak trees that line my street and the trees in my own backyard, the leaf harvest around here is something to behold.  We do our best to rake and bag them for the town to pick up at the curb but the chore can seem never-ending.  Enter me and my mulching mower.  

Ground up, the leaves are a great fertilizer for my lawn.  And mulching them row by row is satisfying, at least for the few days hours that the grass looks tidy.

Soon enough, leaves will once again cover the lawns and sidewalks.  

Raking and mulching will take several rounds before we can call the job complete.   But while there is still gas in my mower, my mulching ambitions can be fulfilled.

That’s happy!

Mower

When I was a kid, my dad did all the lawn mowing that was to be done.  I always assumed he did the work himself to avoid hearing the griping and complaining of children forced to do the job.  I don’t mow for myself until I was nearly 30 and living in my first house.  It was then that I discovered my dad hadn’t taught us to mow because to teach his daughters to push the mower would have meant foregoing the very best of the gardening chores.

I love to mow.

My first mower, a bargain priced number from Walmart with a Briggs and Stratton engine, was a basic machine.  It had no fancy features but jumped to life for years and mowed mile after mile of grass in Nebraska and New Jersey.  It died four years ago and was replaced by a red mower with big back tires, which makes it easier to push.  It’s stylish and a little fancy.  I love to use it.

I am the mulch-mowing type who disdains those who bag their grass cuttings.  That’s a waste of effort and fertilizer in my view.  I love the smell and look of the fresh-cut lawn, with the just-mulched cuttings left in tiny, neat rows.  I like the lines made by fresh-cut grass, those lines slowly expanding as I push the mower to the next row.  I like to admire the grass after its cutting, neatened and tidied.  I feel a virtue pour over me when the job is complete.

In the Spring, the grass is thick and lush and the job takes more time.  In the heat of Summer, the job is hot and sweaty and after I mow, I drink cold iced tea on the front porch and urge the grass to grow quickly so that I may mow again.  In the Fall, the lawn is drying and worn and running the mower in rows cleans up the fallen leaves.

Cutting the grass in October is a bittersweet task; each turn of the mower may be the last of the season.  One day soon, I’ll wheel the mower into the garage, drained of gas and ready for a Winter of rest.  It will sit quietly as the cold descends and the snow falls.  We’ll both wait for Spring, one of us more patiently than the other.

Mowing in Style

After 16 years, my mower gave up the ghost.  It had mowed miles and miles in its life and certainly earned the right to roll on in to the great rewards of the mower graveyard.  But my lawn grows at light speed and I couldn't wait too long for a new mower to join the family.  I had a few must-haves on my list: a Briggs and Stratton engine, a mulcher, and large rear wheels (to make it easier to push and steer).  Enter this shiny red number.

When the old mower died, my dad and I had some conversations about what I needed in a replacement mower.  Among other things, he suggested that I might want something that JT could use.  My response was an emphatic, "no."  Internet,  it's time for a confession: I love mowing.  I love the smell of the cut grass, the neat rows the mower makes, the time to reflect that the job entails, and the look of the yard when the work is complete.  I'm not ready to turn that chore over quite yet.  It turns out that my Dad also loves cutting the grass, a fact I hadn't known.  I expect that this mower and I will spend some quality time together over the coming decade and as I cut the grass I will be reminded of all the ways that love of gardening is among the things I got from my Dad.

Miracle Machine

Sixteen years ago this spring I bought my first lawn mower.  I don't remember a lot about the transaction itself, I just remember that my dad told me to get a mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine.  I did that and started mowing.  The mower came with me from Nebraska to New Jersey, cheerfully mowing row after row of grass.  We are close companions, this mower and I, having logged some serious miles together.

I fill it with gas and, on occasion, I've added oil.  I once had the blade sharpened.  Other than that, the mower doesn't get a lot of TLC.  For the last few years, each spring I roll the mower out of the garage and assume that this year it won't start.  I've looked at replacements, of course, but I don't want to replace a functioning mower.  And so I cross my fingers and pull the cord.  And every spring, for sixteen years, the mower starts.  Last year, it took nearly 20 pulls and I was starting to despair.  This year, it started on pull 7.  No one was more surprised than me.  It isn't pretty, my mower.  The rust has started to spread and the paint is dulled and chipping.  But on Saturday it fired up for another season of cutting the grass and who I am to deny it the pleasure?

I'm thinking about adding some oil this year but I'd hate to mess with a good thing, you know?