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Between Friends with BobAnn Breland

With it virtually being summertime, the duties are galore taking care of everything about the home place. There is a confession I want to make:  I have never, ever mowed the lawn; not even tried!

Saying that made me think of something I read on Facebook the other day.     This man said he had never, ever eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My thought was: if an American person has lived to be an adult, how can he have escaped eating at least one peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

So the same goes for never mowing the lawn. How can a grown American person claim to have never, ever mowed the lawn? At least once? My goodness!

I suppose my excuse goes all the way back to childhood. We had one of those manual push mowers. It was hard work. You pushed it, the wheels turned; the blades rotated and cut the grass. My brother sort of liked the idea of pushing the mow for exercise. It was pre-exercise equipment and it built muscles.

I followed along with the rake, cleaning up the grass clippings, etc. In the autumn, when there was no grass to mow, I still had the raking job. I can remember feeling I had the worst job.

Rob and I came to an agreement early in our marriage. He would keep up the outside of the house and the inside was mine. He not only mowed, but he kept up the sidewalks, patio, carport and other areas, sweeping and keeping everything neat.

I kept up the inside of the house – housekeeping it is called. That meant I didn’t mow the yard or sweep the steps and he didn’t wash dishes or make up beds.

That worked well for a long, long time. I felt I had the best job since I am not really an outside-type person. As the kids grew up they helped, both inside and outside. Then they were all grown and had their own yards to mow and houses to keep.

After Rob became unable to mow anymore, we hired somebody to do it. I still had the inside of the house…but I didn’t mow the yard. After he was gone, it was easier to continue to hire it done.

I suppose I could have gotten somebody to teach me to use a modern riding mower, but I confess I never expressed to anybody any great desire to learn. I still feel confined to the inside of the house and that is okay. However, while observing other people, I have learned a few things about mowing.

Wait until the dew has dried. Best times to mow are midmorning or late afternoon. You miss the hottest time of day.

How often to mow? Just look intently at the grass. If you can see it growing, you will need to mow often.

The thing that would really get to me would be all that business taking care of the mower. Supplying the gas – I really hated the thought of taking the gas can to the store and smelling up my car with the fumes.

Sharpening and changing mower blades can become a little complicated for a person with no mowing experience. Now, I feel I am too far down the stage of life to even try. It is better to let somebody else do it.

There are women who mow their yards with no problem. Some really like to mow. It has never been required of me and I certainly haven’t insisted.

I probably never will.