5.31.2008

tradition or ritual


Which ever you call it, every Saturday around here we do the same thing... watch Daddy mow the lawn. When he mows in the back we all come out and watch, but when he mows the front we have to get creative which means watching him from the windows.

Last Saturday I received a call from Mason while I was in New Mexico (where no one mows their yard). "The lawn mower exploded" he said sounding exasperated. "What do you mean it exploded" I asked, a little annoyed. He explained to me what happened, and half way through his talking I realized I knew nothing about lawn mower engine parts and that I couldn't understand anything he was saying and that I would just have to take his word for it. "I can't talk about this right now" I said knowing that the conversation to follow was going to require patience.

The next day Mason and I set about trying to agree on what kind of lawn mower to buy next. "I'm just going to go to Lowe's and get a mower" he declared "what about Sears... don't they make Craftsman anymore" I countered (I mean it did give us 8 good years, can't be all that bad of a brand) "No good, the new engines are not made by....." my mind wandered again .... the subject of engines makes it wander. "Alright, whatever - just make sure it is electric"

And so it began, the great 'oh jeeze not this again' discussion that requires LOTS of patience on all sides...

I didn't want to buy the same old type of mower AGAIN. For many reasons... it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to be stuck in the past as we marched onward to the future. Large, smelly, dirty, LOUD, gas guzzling machines were not something I wanted to put our money into. Mason didn't want to buy a lawn mower that 'didn't cut worth shit' (if I remember his phrasing correctly).

So we were at an impasse.... until Mason did a bit more digging. He finally found a Honda that seemed to have the best of both worlds. Yes it is gas powered but it has the LOWEST emissions of any mower out there. It is much much much quieter than any mower I have ever heard and it is ultra light weight and it has a very very very very very very very very easy pull cord. I mean really really really really really really easy... one pull type of thing... should have had it 4 years ago when I was pregnant and Mason was deployed.

Mason remarked "I feel like I have been trying to cut our grass with a rock and a loin cloth all these years" after doing a test run...

It was a lot of money... but so was our Dyson vacuum we purchased 5 years ago.... in another 5 years this mower might seem like a bargain!
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love the look on Tristan's face .. very cute!!