Dad always took care of handling trimming the lawn with the electrical edger. The family edger was electric, whereas our mower was gas powered. I'm pretty sure it's this exact Toro model that Dad used. I was shown the ropes for the task, yet never really got involved with it, though I do remember specifically what the trimmer looked like, & this is it. A short cord to attach into an extension cord, the black guide handle right below the red handle with the control trigger switch, & the base, where the line was being black, yet the motor section directly above, being red. Sometimes Dad would trim in advance of my mowing the lawn; other times he'd ask that I mow one section of the lawn first in so that it would be completed & he could take to that section with the trimmer & the two of us not be "battling" out for the same square footage of yard. If he would be trimming in the front yard then we'd set him up & turn on the switch for the lamp post at the base of the front walk next to the driveway. The outlet on the backside would be active with the light switch turned on inside the house & all Dad would then need to do was plug in the extension cord & toss it around so as to not be in his way. He had that part of the project pretty well down pat. There were a few electrical outlets along the backside of the house too, which is where he'd plug in when trimming in those sections.
It was fun taking care of mowing the lawn because I always knew he'd be satisfied & content. The critical nature I'd developed for myself was equivalent enough to Dad's, that he never came back & said, "You didn't do that section well enough." Sometimes I took a thrill in getting to skip sections. When Dad would be working on replanting/regrowing the grass in a particular area, then that square footage wouldn't get mowed. It was equivalent to taking a break, which sometimes would be nice.
I'd always know how long the mowing task would take depending on how high the lawn had grown & how much rain we'd received. If it hadn't really rained, as in, it was the driest months of the season, then mowing the yard would possibly only take one bag full, which could take as little as 45 minutes. That could be inspirational just to get me going. Mom & Dad would only be looking for the lawn to be mowed in order to keep the blades that were growing even & unified with those that weren't so much. Dad wouldn't trim on these weeks. Sometimes they'd also "allow" for another break of a sort & let the task go for another day or so for whatever growth any additional overnight dew might initiate. I'd be delighted for the delay, & my ability to tend to any of the other hobbies of mine in the meantime, yet still anxious knowing that the task technically still awaited me.
Then there were the times when it wouldn't stop raining & the grass wouldn't stop growing - at least not long enough to get myself out there & get the task completed. It would be a bummer when I really couldn't wait long enough for the grass to be dried out enough to begin the cutting because it would get caught up in the mower's blades, stick, & be holding me back, & tying up my time. On these mowing days I'd often need to mow in less time than a week, probably within four to five days. And on those days I'd take me - most likely - two solid hours - with at least four bags full. I'd also get frustrated with myself that I'd try to get just-one-more-row completed, & there I'd be with clumps of wet grass, every six to twelve inches or so, which would then need to be either picked up or I'd have to re-mow the row or, even worse, the rows. There was more than one time when I'd have just one more, or maybe two more rows to mow, & would have left the front yard section, the part furthest from the dumping area at the bottom of the backyard, when the bag would begin showing it's "over fullness". I'd have to quickly decide if I was going to just buck up & change out the bag & come back to finish the final swipe or two; or, if I was going to finish up with the current load as was & then basically just hand pick up those remaining clumps decorating the lovely lines the mower's wheels had drawn on the lawn.
This was an easier decision, & much more welcome, than when I'd run out of gas in the mower in the same situation. Either way would remind me why starting in the front yard & then working my way through the side yard, to finally make my way all the way down the hill to the base of the yard, was typically the best way to organize the overall task seeing as the dumping would be right there, &, if I did need more gas, if the engine did give out with remaining blades to trim greater than that of what Dad's work with the electric trimmer should take on, the gas can was stored in our shed (in the same place that the lawnmower was stored when it wasn't being pushed around the yard), & therefore it was a super short trip to getting the gas can out, filling the tank, & getting the engine back up & running in order to finish up & be complete.
These links are affiliate links to Amazon as well as the image link in the top left.
No comments:
Post a Comment