This house across from my brother's school looked like the end of a sad story. Empty driveway, recycling bins turned over, and a lawn that had grown into a meadow. I assumed it was a foreclosure, a short sale, some family that got kicked out of a home they'd put much time and effort into after slipping on their bills. And every day when I drove past, the grass was longer. So it goes on a street where three other houses have had "FOR SALE" signs hanging out front for weeks.
When I drove by on Friday, there were two emergency vehicles blocking the road. When I stopped I saw they were in front of that house, paramedics swarming around a man on a stretcher slowly being lifted into the ambulance, his face contorted in pain and fear. He looked otherwise healthy: thin, middle-aged, newly-graying beard.
When I drove away, I could see in the rearview mirror that the lawn had been freshly mowed.
1 comment:
It's definitely a good idea to make sure you're in condition before you tackle a hay-mowing.
If you don't have a riding mower nor a self-propelled -- and a self-propelled won't help you much in this sort of conditions -- go buy a new Sears Craftsman mower, the cheaper the better. Their bare-bones model isn't much more than about $150.00 or so, but the important thing is this: they're very lightweight. You can push them all day and not get very tired.
That being said, cutting lawns is best done in the mornings. "Beat the heat, or the heat will beat you." Then leave the clippings where they lie, come on back and make hay the next day.
About the foreclosures: I'm tempted at times to just drive up and down Aspen Hill Road and take the realtor's numbers from all of the "for sale" signs. A lot of lawns are getting pretty long here, and I'm already in condition to cut lawns.
Post a Comment