the yard machine

i finally did something today that i've been putting off for awhile now. i mowed my yard. not a difficult task. in fact its a monotonous chore often assigned to young children. that said, i love it.

don't you just love the smell of freshly cut grass? especially in the spring time when the world is finally green again and spring flowers are rich and vibrant. the smell is the sweetest then. probably because of the 6 month absence over the cold winter months.

it's not just the cut grass smell that makes this simple yard chore so pleasurable. it's the opportunity to be spend time outside. it's the chance to soak in the sun. it's the ipod playing my favorite tunes while i work. it's the time to be alone and let your mind wander. true, you don't have to be mowing the yard to do any of those things, but the beauty of it is that you can do those things while also being productive. it may be a easy chore but you still get that since of accomplishment of a job completed. immediate satisfaction when you step back and see your good work.

i haven't always enjoyed it though. there were many a hot summer day back in mo where i would dread mowing mom and dad's massive yard. the dislike stemmed mainly from the hours it took and the itchy pine trees i danced with in order to mow under.

but i hadn't had the opportunity to mow in a long time, my yard is small with only one lone pine tree, and the weather a mild 80 degrees. so you would think that i would jump at the chance to beautify my yard, right? it wasn't so much the yard mowing that i was putting off, it was the reassembly of my lawn mower that i was ignoring. i bought it right after graduation when i rented a house with the girls for the summer. after i moved out they kept the mower. i didn't bother to get it back from them until the move here. i put the damn thing together so you'd think "no problem," but not having seen the thing in 3.5 years makes a girl a little leery especially when she can't read the instruction manual. (for the record i'm all about instruction manuals. i may not know how something works but give me written instructions and i soon will.)

turns out reassembly was a piece of cake. just a bit of trial and error and the thing was together in no time. then the really dreadful part. would i be able to get it started? i'm never confident when it come to starting any machine with a pull start. but by the third try, i was off.

my yard looks great minus the dead spots from our february freezes. now i have a new problem...i want a grass trimmer. perfect for edging around the driveway, sidewalk, house, well pump...i am aware that this requires another pull start machine but think how pretty my yard would be. and much easier than the scissors i busted out the take care of some of the major problem areas today. i think i could easily become one of those people obsessed with their yard:)