Such a Thick Growth

Unsolicited, my daughter suggested that the arrival of the Beatles, and their musical progression must have been remarkable to witness.  If ever a watermelon were lobbed across the plate.  “Indeed!”  “They always looked so cool.  Especially later.  I know, early they were cute.”  I made one and then seventeen more complementary suggestions.   Unasked, and purposefully, I played so much ambient Beatles when she one and three and five and seven years old.  Giddy to note that it has now taken root this way. 

I don’t know the nature of the assignment.  But my older one asked to research, how I made “noodles” and how her mom made them.  “Can you make spaghetti?”  I thought about it and shifted my mind to an Italian landscape.  There’s some dough in the back.  I could make a thin pizza, as well.  “Yeah. Sure.  What’s the assignment?”  My maternal grandmother would be horrified to know that this is what her great-granddaughter’s idea of dad's cultural comfort-food was. 

It doesn’t calm the heart but the meditative quality of pushing a power mower around does center the soul.  Progress is gradual, but steady.  At any point you can decide to cut off a geometric shape and shrink it.  I’ve never mowed the whole lawn before.  hTis patch I was working on is particularly deep, wet grass and the mower regularly conks out, chewing up such a thick growth.  I cut around trees trim a semicircle around the trunk and then adjust the line of the greater shape, to address this.  It takes about an hour to go through a tank of gas on this thing and that’s about all I’ve time for. 

This lawn would take about seven hours if you were to do it straight through.  That’s about one, one-hour section for every day of the week, so I could be mowing this in perpetuity if I’m not careful.  I’ve decided I want to mow the whole thing at least once and then decide whether this is something I’m going to outsource or keep in-house. There are lots of hills and inclines to contend with, but it feels good in the arms, which haven't been to a gym in a while. 

Tuesday, 5/12/20