Mow, Mow, Mow Your Lawn

If you're a regular reader here or at my original blog, Kathy At 49 , you know that I'm always trying to do things in new and different ways. Today was grass-cutting day, and I figured out a way to vary the job when I mowed the sections of the yard in the opposite order.

We have a typical suburban yard with the house surrounded by grass on all four sides. When I mow I always do it in the same order. I start in the front yard, moving back and forth across it, then head for the tree yard, a small piece of grass between the sidewalk and the street. When that's done I proceed to the strip on the other side of the driveway between our yard and our neighbor's. That yard flows into the side yard which flows into the back yard and then to the section on the other side of the house. I've not really tracked it, but I think I may even mow around all the obstacles (patios, trees, deck posts, and garden beds) the same way each time.

Today I started in the tree yard in front of the house, then completed the main section of the front. Next, I mowed the side yard I usually do last, which meant I came into the back yard from the opposite side I usually do. It was strange to be pushing the mower through areas I usually don't get to until I'm hot and tired. I KNOW I did a better job there than I usually do. However, when I got to the second side yard I was starting to feel the effects of pushing the lawn mower, and the sweat was making my sunscreen run into my eyes. Since I usually do this part while I still have energy, I never noticed that this area has quite a few things to mow around, and the incline between the front and back yard is more extreme on this side of the house than the other, making it hard to push the mower up. By the time I got to the section that contained the mailbox I was glad to be finished.

However, there was one real advantage to my route through the yard today. The mail truck had come by while I was cutting, so I could grab the mail from the box right after I turned off the mower!