Mowing my lawn for the first time last week was an adventure.
It was not only the first time I had mowed the lawn this spring but the first time ever. You see, Ive never had to care for my own lawn before. Growing up, I never had to mow the lawn and during college I lived on campus or in apartments and I wasnt required to mow the lawn.
So this spring I found a lawn mower, put it together myself and added oil and gasoline. I had wanted to mow for several days but it was raining and I was unable to. By the time I was able to mow, the grass had grown quite a bit.
The first part of the adventure involved pumping gas into one of those red plastic containers. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, and I even spilled some of that precious, expensive liquid. But I eventually got the gas to stay in the red container and brought it home. I filled up my mower, spilling only a little more gas, and was ready to go. The lawn mower still looked all shiny and new, but I knew it would be the last time it would look that way.
I pushed this red button on the lawn mower to prep the starter or something. Thats what the directions said, at least. Then I pulled back the handle and pulled the string. Nothing. Once again I tried, a bit faster. Nothing. Was I really not strong enough? I gave it a third try and finally the engine started.
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So I decided to start pushing the mower over my lawn, but before I got too far, I realized the wheels must have been on the lowest setting, I suppose for packing purposes. If I had continued mowing my lawn at that height, it would have looked like a putting green. So I stopped the mower. One of my wonderful neighbors was outside and I asked for his help in fixing the problem. He figured out how to raise the wheels, but then the mower didnt start right away. Great, I thought. I already broke my brand new mower.
But I lucked out. It turned out that because I had the mower set on the putting green height, a lot of grass had gotten caught under the mower. Once I got the grass out, it was good to go. I didnt break my new lawn mower after all. Then, around and around I went. Soon, the backyard was completely cut.
Then I moved to the front yard that had all sorts of obstacles because of a large tree and sidewalks. Remember, I had no plan. So, I just started going in circles again and going from one patch to another patch that was divided by the sidewalk. The front yard was soon done as well but it doesnt have those nice straight lines like some yards have. For next time, Ill make sure to have a pattern in mind before I begin.
I was surprised it didnt take me longer to mow the lawn I think I was done in less than half an hour. So I pushed the mower back to its place in my garage and took a long look at it. I did pretty well for the first time.
Later, I walked around the house and eyed my next project. I discovered a number of perennials are starting to come in around the house and Ill need to clean out the weeds and other brush, if I can figure out what is a weed and what isnt. (Some of those weeds look pretty too.) I might add some additional plants around the house but havent decided what to do yet.
Mowing lawn will be an ongoing project as well because already, my lawn needs to mowed again. It sure likes to grow. I say its fun now, but that might get old after a few months of mowing lawn and after it gets hot and humid and the bugs come.
