October 8

Who knew that mowing the lawn could actually be fun?

When I was a teenager, cutting the grass was my "job". Every week during the spring and summer for probably 6+ years I would hop on the old red riding lawnmower and mow my parents one acre yard. Do you remember those red mowers from the 90's? The kind where you had to hold down the blade with your foot? Yup - that was the one we had! Not particularly fast, very uncomfortable, and horrible to turn. When I first started cutting the grass, I used it as a tool to practice driving, and then it merely became a way to tan. I treated that poor lawnmower with great disrespect, throwing it into the 5th speed and bouncing directly into holes. (Why I don't know - bouncing around on a semi-cushioned seat is not fun) Three hours later, and covered in dust, I would be finished and earn my ten bucks.

When I turned 20, I "suddenly" developed allergies to grass... either that or it was my excuse to get out of it, so I only occasionally mowed the lawn after that. It was about this time that old red decided to die, and my parents bought a spanking new yellow lawnmower with a nice cushioned seat, wider blade, bigger tires, and faster speeds. My Papa took over the lawns at that point (grandparents live across the street), so he would cut both yards.

Fast forward about ten years to the past two. I lost my job in January of 2010, and had a difficult time finding work for a while. So, I went back to mowing the lawn. This time it was BOTH yards and there was a pay raise. Yellow lawnmower and I tooled around the yard, typically on high speed, before it decided to bite the dust a couple of months ago. Before it went to the lawn mower graveyard, I had tried to convince my dad that he really, REALLY needed to purchase a Zero Turn lawnmower. The mac daddy of all lawnmowers. But alas, yellow was still in good condition at the time I spoke with him. About two months after that conversation, yellow bit the proverbial dust and dad purchased a Zero Turn.

Finally, my "need for speed" has been answered!!! What used to take me about three hours, now takes less than one. Granted, one cannot just hop on a zero turn without a lesson. It takes a few moments to "get it", because you are controlling everything with the handlebars. But after about fifteen minutes of playing around with it, I was good to go. Who knew that buzzing around the lawn could finally be so much fun?