i don’t have a very big yard…maybe a quarter of an acre…not really sure. i was excited that it was small enough that it could mow it and enjoy it as a fun outdoor lawn activity, but not so large i’d dread mowing it as a chore. i always enjoyed mowing the yard as a teenager, because we had a yard large enough to use a riding lawnmower and it provided great thinking and reflection time. i was so happy the day i got to ride it and mow it by myself. previous to that time, dad would finish mowing and then let me practice driving it around the yard. this slowly progressed into finishing the yard after he did the outer edges and tough corners, to me being able to do the entire yard alone. because i started doing this before i was driving a car, i would even practice parking the mower as if i were parking a car. silly me.
anyway, when i moved into my home here in greater Advance, NC, (and btw, that’s pronounced AD-vance, with the emphasis on the first syllable, with both ‘a’s being pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘apple,’ and adding a southern drawl), i was happy to have a yard to mow. funnily enough, even though my mailing address is Advance, i don’t actually live in Advance…it is 4 miles or so to the south. the tornadoes that ripped through davie county a week and a half ago (while i was at montreat) went through Advance itself. so, i think i live in the middle of a nameless nowhere in davie county, which borders forsyth county, which is where i work. but, i digress…
for the previous 14 years, i had not lived in a house that required mowing…i either lived in a dorm, fraternity house, apartment, or town home during those 14 years. no mowing. 
as i moved here, i knew i needed to buy a mower. i decided that in our green twenty-first century world, i would try to purchase something environmentally friendly. i looked into electric mowers, having used one once during the summer i spent in washington state. affordability would be an issue. but then i was excited to discover that i could purchase one of those old-timey “reel” mowers…i didn’t know they still made them…or re-started making them.
actually, several companies make them and they are available at several stores. i found a used one at the chattanooga sears parts & repair store (which i recommend those stores for any major appliance purchase, and other hit-or-miss tools & entertainment purchases…great deals on out-of-season, previous season, used/refurbished, and scratch & dent stuff). but i digress…
i got a “reel” mower for $30, i think, if memory serves me correctly. it would have been about $80 new. sears made two models at that time (in 2006): an 18-inch and 21-inch (i think). i have the 18-inch, and i LOVE it! it cuts so smoothly and cleanly…the wheels of the mower do not leave trails as distinct as traditional push mowers…it is lighter weight…and, my neighbors favorite feature, it is much MUCH quieter. i look forward to using it. but, there is a catch…you have to have real grass.
growing up, i never had grass in my yard. we were just lucky the majority of it was green. my yard pretty much looked like the salad you get at restaurants…you know, with the purple leaves, and the yellow stringy things, and the yellow-green skinny leafy thorny-looking things, and the green broad-leaf things that look like they should have dandelions attached to them. yea…but now, i bought a house that where sod was laid when it was built! (not by me…can’t afford that!) so, i can use my reel mower to cut the real grass. but, that is only in the front. my back yard is half weeds, half grass…and i do not look forward to mowing the back. once the grass gets to a certain height, i can’t mow it with my reel mower…the blade guard simply pushes the tall weeds over and prevents it from running through the blades.
while i was gone to montreat, my grass grew a LOT (last time i fertilize!!!), such that i needed to borrow my neighbors mower…which they just bought an electric mower. i’ve used it once before…it is SO cool. my week was super busy, and several evenings were spent at the hospital visiting with meredith (which she is doing much better, by the way…still at the hospital, but in a regular room), resulting in my inability to borrow the mower. so, this weekend i tried to borrow it. i kept crossing with my neighbors and neither of us were home at the same time. when i returned home from a dance recital on saturday night, and drove into my driveway, my headlights no longer reflected upon the shafts of grain at the top of my foot-tall stalks of grass. someone had mowed my lawn! at first, i thought it was the elves that live in the forest, but then decided it must have been kate or sam.
sunday morning, i saw kate (who is in GOOTH) and sam (her 5th-grade brother who is excited about being in GOOTH next year) and they admitted to mowing the lawn…sam did most of the work apparantly. over cookies and lemonade on the CPC patio following worship, he said to me, “have you been to the mall?” i thought, “random,” and answered, “yes.” “have you been to the food court?” “yes.” “you know how they give you the sample of food on a toothpick?” “yes.” “when i mowed your lawn, that was just a sample.” i laughed out loud. here this 5th grader had got me with his economic prowess and has now suckered me into paying him to mow my lawn this summer! haha. i’ll have him mow it some…i’ll be traveling a lot with the GOOTH, and will need help in keeping it under control. but i’ll get my share of mowing in, too. it’s a time i enjoy to be outside and work in my yard. it fits nicely into the activities i talked about in my previous post “the one about golfing and oak hollow” where i talk about the spirituality of creation and outdoors.
speaking of outdoors, the cardinal in the window is still there all day long, chirping in at me. yay.
