Their Faces Gaunt, Their Eyes Were Blurred, Their Shirts All Soaked With Sweat

With the warm weather the grass is really starting to grow. I did a little mowing the old fashion way today after work. I roped off an area of the yard and let a couple of cows graze it. They loved it and only left minimal fertilizer behind. I hate to see all the clover and ryegrass on the right-of-way of nearby highways going to waste. I wish my cows could graze it a few hours. That's what gave me the idea today on the way home.

I have never liked mowing. I think I started mowing when I was about ten years old. It was when we lived on Blackwell, and I know I did it a couple of years before we moved. We had a lead-sled Craftsman push mower when we lived there. No matter how much you WD40'd the wheels, those little 4" tires were hard to push through the high St. Augustine grass. Mom always told me stories of boys who would cut their toes off mowing. She even had a friend that lost an eye when a piece of metal flew up and hit him. It wasn't the danger of mowing I didn't like, it was the monotony and repetition. Dad would always inspect my work. I finally learned how to eliminate those little 1 inch strips of unmowed grass. I always dreamed of a riding mower, but never got one when I lived at home.

When I was growing up I just knew one day I would be rich enough to have someone else mow my yard. For some reason, I still am doing it (with the help of G-man), even though I probably could afford to have it done. I do have a Zero Turn Radius (ZTR) mower that is fun to drive. It's kind of like riding a mechanical bull, in that it will throw you off if you are not careful. G-man helps me out with the push mowing part in front and around the edges. He's even runs the ZTR on occasion.

I'm looking forward to Spring. I even look forward to the grass growing and the first few times I mow it. I just now by the end of August, the fun will be gone out of mowing.