Yardwork: The best of times, the worst of times.

I did a thing.

Tired of being disappointed and overcharged for mowing my lawn, I bought a riding lawn mower. Mind you, I’d never driven one before. In fact, I don’t remember ever actually using a lawn mower of any sort. While I had to learn how to use the machine, I also had to learn the art of mowing.

The good news is I survived it, and so did my partner. Yes, I almost flipped several times (my lawn is very uneven), my partner had to duck shrapnel (I always forgot which side the cut grass discharged), and I inadvertently decorated my street with clippings (see previous parentheses).

The bad news is…well, it’s bad. The cut, I mean. Sometimes, the blade was set at 3 inches. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I sometimes accidentally set the blade to 1 inch. I also couldn’t judge the edges, so there are patches of very high grass in conspicuous spots.

But you know what? I had fun, and for a novice, I don’t think I did too badly. Next week, the end product will be better.

I hope.

An interesting haircut.

Strangely Beautiful

I know many people who spend a great deal of time and money on their lawns and flower beds. I’ve never been so fortunate to have either tons of cash or talent in that area. Consequently, my partner and I have always had a “grow if you want to” sort of approach.

It works for us. We plant from time to time, but often end up with beautiful flowers in giant pots. We mow, but not as often as other people in our neighborhood. The wild look seems to suit us, and well, when our neighbors have killed their grass from too much mowing in hot weather, our lawn flourishes. Mostly. When it wants to.

As you can see in the pictures, we keep as many leaves as possible on the lawn and in the flower beds. It works for forests, right? No one rakes them. Past the big tree is a downward incline—much of our property is down the hill. We don’t do anything with that except occasionally get rid of the poison ivy or this nasty invasive vine that wants to have its way with our trees and bushes. But hill is lush and green, with lots of bunnies and squirrels and even foxes.

Okay, fine. It’s messy. Strange. Uneven. Wild. But gosh. It’s so beautiful.