Mow

March 30, 2021

I held off long as I could but finally broke down and mowed today.  There are several reasons why I am the last yard in the cul-de-sac to mow.  First, I need to finish weeding the other beds out front.  Melissa has decided to keep the garden cloth on the big front bed because there is one more night predicted to drop into the low 30F’s this week.  Once I get the cloth off, I will need to weed.  I also have the two beds under the bushes and the long flower bed that need to be weeded out front.  That does not even address the side bed and the garden/flower beds in the back.  When I weed, I always toss the clippings in the yard and mow over them.  This saves me from having to pick them up.  I finally admitted I needed to mow and then re-mow once I get the beds weeded.

The other reason I have not mowed is because I need to get my mower checked before I mow too much.  I like to have the blades sharpened and the belt guards have shaken loose again.  I do not know if this is just a bad design or if the blades are out of balance, but the bolts keep coming loose.  When it was repaired last year, the man drilled in a second set of bolts for both guards.  He commented about the quality of the design, as at that time the bolts had sheared off rather than just come loose.  I should have done this last year, but like so many things, I blamed not calling him on “the covid.”  Rather than being lax, I was protecting us both from possible spread (ha ha).

I set the blades high for my first mow knowing I will have to mow again as soon as I finish weeding.  If I mow the grass short, I am not able to tell where I have been.  That is a frustration I can do without.  This first mow knocks down the weeds but does not give the clean appearance I get with a shorter cut.  This does allow me to see the general shape of my lawn after the cold and freeze of the winter.  I was happy to hear my mole guards buss when I checked them.  I was afraid the batteries had either died or been ruined by the cold.  I should have taken them out but forgot and then put the garden cloth over the top.  I guess the cloth saved them as well.

Thoughts:  Now that the grass is mowed, I need to get to the store to pick up the “weed and feed” to spread over the yard.  Like so many things, everything is contingent on something else.  I need to get the weed killer spread on the yard but needed to mow before I did.  I need to mow but needed to weed the succulent beds before I did.  I need to remove the ground cloth to weed the bed, but Melissa needed me to wait before I did.  Biden told us we could have small gathering and neighborhood picnics for Fourth of July, but we needed to continue to follow guidelines and wear masks before we did.  Most states have responded by lifting protocols and Spring Break was celebrated by crowds of unmasked revelers.  When you are almost to the corner you have two choices.  We have chosen to turn around before we got there.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.