Editor column: The old dog relearned an old trick

By Mike Bollinger

After moving to my new house in the suburbs of Meadow, I had to resume a task I hadn’t done in about 10 years - mowing the lawn.

For most of that time, I’ve lived in apartment buildings where the owners took care of the yard work. There was also a spell where I lived in a small house in the Virginia mountains, but that yard had a very steep hill so I overcame my tendency to be a cheapskate and paid someone to do it.

When I looked at the new place, my first thought was, “I can cut this grass with no problem. It’s flat.”

After I took a closer look at the yard, that thought became, “This is a lot of grass.”

I eventually decided since the yard is flat and there are no real obstructions except for the house itself and a small outbuilding, I would cut it rather than pay someone. I purchased a lawn mower and prepared for my first effort.

I overcame the cheapskate tendency again with the lawnmower purchase, opting for the self-propelled model as opposed to the Mike-propelled model. A pretty Friday morning arrived, and it was time to get down to business.

I determined what the best starting point would be, fired up the mower and began cutting. When I started, I figured with the size of the yard I would be able to do about half of it before the mower ran out of gas. That, I thought, would be a good time to give both me and the mower a drink and a break.

I finished the front, then both sides, then started on the back. The mower was showing no signs of running out of gas. I, on the other hand, began to show signs of running out of gas.

I haven’t owned a mower in some time. Apparently, the engines are far more efficient than they used to be.

Continuing on the back yard, I began to wonder if the mower could cut the whole thing on a tank of gas. I then began to wonder if I could cut the whole thing without stopping, but being a stubborn human being, I vowed not to stop until the mower did.

Finally, with the back about three-quarters done, the mower began to sputter and all the gas was gone. I had begun to sputter long before that, and made it to a chair on the patio for a drink and a break.

The break was very nice, but I decided to end it before I became unable to get out of the chair and finish the job. After only about another 30 minutes, the yard was done and so was I.

I then returned to the chair to admire my handiwork and enjoy the smell of the freshly cut grass. I have to admit that I was pleased with myself to be able to cut grass again, since I’m much older than I was the last time I did it.

Since cutting grass is not a once a year thing, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to continue on the rest of the season. We’ll see how it goes once the days get warmer.

One thing is for sure, the breaks will likely become more frequent, because I learned quickly the mower has a lot more stamina than I do.