Keeping it reel...

After how many years of home ownership now--14, I believe--I finally bought the kind of lawn mower I've ALWAYS craved: a reel mower.  You know, the kind our immigrant grandparents used on their new American lawns, where people provided the power.  

I LOVE it!  

I can't even describe the thrill of mowing my 3/4 acre lot with this 16-inch wide thing.  We'll see how I feel by summer's end, but after my son helped me attach the handle, I mowed the entire yard...in about two hours.  The teens laughed as I smiled and cut and re-cut entire patches of the green stuff.  After all, it's early May, so only small patches are actually growing yet, making following my own tracks nearly impossible.

But where it needed mowing, the lawn now looks great!

So what prompted my sudden green turn?  It all began with half a case of organic beer.  Not drunk all at once, mind you.  Inside the Wolaver's Sampler Pack came a $50 coupon good toward a Neuton electric lawn mower.  So, after going round and round with operators at the company who had never heard of mower coupons or organic beer before, I finally found someone who cheerily told me that I might be the first person to take them up on the offer.  

Problem was, it would take four to six weeks to receive my new mower.

So, rather than risk the wrath of the neighbors over a possibly overgrown lawn (Heaven forbid!), I picked up the reel mower at the local hardware store.  Naturally, the Neuton arrived the same day that my son and I connected the handle.  But I don't care.  I now have two ways to mow my green stuff...uh, greenly.

We'll soon see how long it takes us to mow our portion of the Village Green, which we share with 21 other homes, of which only about a half dozen neighbors bother to do their share of mowing.  But that's another problem.  And I've recently taken a new vow to try not to complain anymore.

My husband has also gone somewhat green--having just two weeks ago trading in his gas guzzling truck for a Honda Accord Coupe that nearly doubles his gas mileage.  And while we still fill my van with people--we took six teens and adults, plus our adopted greyhound for ice cream tonight--and with stuff--dump runs and I just moved my son out of his dorm yesterday--I am dreaming of a day, soon, I hope, after I land a job (IF I ever land a job) when I will finally buy a Prius.  Or at least an extremely fuel efficient smaller car.

Gas prices?  Well, yeah, of course those bug me.  But I've had an eye on the environment for a while now.  (Haven't we all?)  Especially after speaking with all those scientists when conducting research for my climate change multi media script that I penned for the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium.  And with my recent screenplay that touches on environmental problems in the Arctic regions of Nunavut, Canada.

But I digress.  So rather than bore you with more information than you desire, I shall sign off for the evening.  And daydream of the next time I get to mow my lawn with my new reel mower...where I also benefit from the real workout it provides.

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers,

Dana