Mowing

Yesterday I helped by mowing a lawn, a large lawn. I had the use of a new, shiny, red Poulan riding lawn mower with an extra large cutting swath. This mower made the chore a pleasure. The mower started with a key. I was able to back it out of the barn without hitting a barn door or any other obstacle. I got it running through the grass before engaging the mowing mechanism. Then I lowered the blade so I could see where I had been. Most of this lawn in on a slope so I tried to plan my work going up and down the slope rather than across. I didn't want to tip. Mowing can make my mind go into a zen state. I focus on lining up the wheels so I don't miss any grass but I don't go over any grass twice. I started out mowing by the barn. If I had mower trouble, I knew I wouldn't be able to push it very far so I wanted to stay close to the barn. Eventually I got more confident. I figured out how fast the mower goes up hill and how fast it goes down hill. I learned how fast I could turn it around and how much space I needed to make each turn. There is a path between the alfalfa and soybean fields towards the school house. The scenery was great. I could see blue sky and white puffy clouds and hills in the distance. I could see field and meadows. I could see cows chewing grass and drinking water. I kinda felt like a farmer only I wasn't harvesting anything useful. I mowed up one side and down the other urging all the grasshoppers to get out of the way. I tried to be efficient. This is a large lawn and would take a long time. I kept repeating the up and down slope as much as I could while completing smaller spots like behind the barn and the field behind the machine shed. Sometimes the motor would falter when I adjusted myself on the seat. Duh! You have to sit on the seat to keep the motor running. Getting off the seat will kill the engine. Took me a while to figure that out. At one point the motor did falter and wouldn't start again. Out of gas. I went to town with ringing ears to get more gas. Everything seemed so quiet. I only bought four gallons because four gallons is about how much I can carry. The gas tank on this mower is huge. I think it takes more gas than my motorcycle. With the motor running again, I got to the lawn around the house. The grass here seemed extra long. I mowed under the apple tree - mulching some apples into sauce. I mowed down the long driveway and back up the other. The only spots I didn't like is mowing next to the electric fence when the left side is lower than the right side. That is when I would lean my upper body WAY to the right. I wasn't in any real danger of tipping but if I did, I would tip into the electric fence and be pinned against it by the mower. Yikes, what a predicament. I had some tricky spots where the trees are close together and I had to do figure eights between them while ducking my head under the clothesline. After five hours I was done. I looked for some missed spots and cleaned up closer to some trees and poles. I disengaged the mower and pulled it into the barn. I was almost sad to be done with the chore. This was the largest lawn I had ever mowed.