My Love For Grass

Mother: "Erik, it is your turn to mow the lawn today."

Erik: "gggggrrrr."

Varoom! Varoom! ..putt...putt...putt...Varoom! Varoom! ....choke....choke...choke... Varoom! Finally!!!!!!!

The lawn mower finally started but now I need to go ice my shoulder down. After a quick ice break I am off to mow the lawn. This time it is different because I am not in the mood. Our lawn isn't really large and honestly it isn't all that difficult to mow. But today there are two things I don't want to do; mow the lawn and shovel the dog poop off the lawn before mowing it.

The grumpy gene is boiling within me and my stubbornness is becoming more visible. I quickly map my plan out in my head and begin my artwork. I gently position the lawn mower in position, but in order to do so the lawn mower can't be on. Fearing the lawn mower won't start again, I take the chance and shut it down. With the mower in position, it miraculously starts on the first pull. Slowly I walk the mower in a straight line and with care I lower the handle to the grass while lifting the mower away from the lawn turning on a 335 degree turn so that it doesn't cut the grass. I quickly eye my line and start in a straight line again. When I have reached my point, I once again lower the handle toward the grass lifting the mower away from the lawn and make the necessary turn on the proper angle without cutting the grass. The mower is then lowered and I continue in a straight line. I have reached my ending point and now have to turn off the mower again to reposition.

A few feet away from my previous cuts, I eyeball my position and start the mower. Today must be my day because it starts again with ease. This time I gently move the mower at a slow and steady rate as if I am walking around an oval track. I return to my starting point and with a grin on my face I shut the mower down. I am done! I empty the mower bag and return the mower to its resting place in the garage.

The shoes are left at the sliding glass door and I cheerfully inform my mother that the task has been completed. At the moment she responds with a sense of gratitude but what she doesn't know is that I just gracefully mowed the letters "N" and "O" in the lawn.

...total time to completion = I don't remember but I do know it took longer than it would have if I had just mowed the lawn like normal.

Thankfully mother has a wonderful sense of humor!

P.S. I didn't shovel the poop before mowing. I learned quickly that it either gets sucked up into the bag or chopped up like and onion and spit out the sides of the mower.