A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

The Yard Work I Never Had to Do

         It's time for the leaves to change though here in California you wouldn't notice much.

English: Roller at Cockington A lawn roller le...
 Roller at Cockington A lawn roller leans against an oak tree at the side of 49773. Keywords: Cockington Court, autumn leaves (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        In my lifetime I've put many a mile behind me while pushing a lawnmower.  We had a huge lawn when we lived in Tennessee and since I was a teenager when we moved there, the job of mowing that lawn fell upon me.   After I moved away from home my parents bought a riding lawnmower, but I guess they figured that since I was young and healthy I would be just fine pushing a lawnmower for a few hours on a hot summer day.   That story changed when they didn't have me to push the mower.  I'm not sure why my younger brothers didn't have to push a mower, but apparently my father ended up mowing much of the time and that was enough to inspire him to buy a riding mower.

          One job that I never had to do was rake leaves.  There weren't any leaves back then in the late sixties and early seventies when I was living there.  In the years after I moved away the trees in the yard grew bigger.  Hence in fall there were leaves on the ground and somebody must have had to rake them up.   Since I've rarely been in Tennessee during the fall since I left my parents' house, I haven't seen much in the way of fallen leaves.

            That is until late fall of 2014 after my mother died.   I stayed at my mother's house for a while in order to help get affairs settled.  As a matter of fact I was there nearly a month in November and December.  Since the young man who cut grass during the summer when the grass was growing didn't come during the winter, someone need to rake up the leaves that had accumulated in the yard. There was a leaf blower at the house, but I couldn't get it to work.  So I found a rake and began raking.  In that large yard raking was a formidable task.

             I raked once while I was there and because it was so late in fall and there were no more leaves in the trees to fall onto the ground, that was the one and only time I had to rake.  Raking was easier than pushing the mower on a hot day.  Still I'm glad that I didn't have to do any raking back then.  I would have done it if I had been given the chore, but thankfully the chore didn't exist when I lived there.

            Let's face it--I'm not a fan of yard work.  Even now I have somebody come over to cut my lawn where I live now.  Not that it's a big job--our lawn is about the same size as our living room and that's not especially big.  Our lawn guy has a blower and all the other lawn care tools to keep a well-manicured lawn for us.   I don't need to buy tools or exert any effort.   A few bucks twice a month is worth it to me.

            Mowing the lawn when I lived with my parents was fine.  It not only didn't kill me, it was also good exercise and a time to escape into my own mind while I walked in circles for a few hours.  Mowing was my job after all.   Raking leaves was the yard work I never had to do.

            What kinds of household chores did you have to do when you were younger?  Do you currently have a yard that you keep up yourself?     Have you ever jumped into a pile of leaves?





     

7 comments:

  1. I would never jump in a pile of leaves due to the threat of bugs. I used to use a gas push mower to do my parents' lawn although my dad had a riding mower. It would take me 2 hours; their yard was huge. Except for a couple of apple trees which are gone now, the rest of the trees are cedar so there was nothing much to rake. We'd have to rake up the apples and leaves under those 2 trees but that was it. I mow the yard at the house we rent but I draw the line at raking.

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  2. JoJo, when I was a kid I would have likely jumped into a pile of leaves, but there were never piles of leaves that I had access to. No way that I'd jump into a pile of leaves now.

    My parents' yard used to take me about 4 to 5 hours to mow so I'd try to start early to beat some of the heat. Still, in the summer it would start heating up soon after I started so there was no escaping it. I would stop for breaks a number of times during mowing and consume large glasses of whatever was available--usually instant iced tea. It was usually a very hot job.

    Lee

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  3. I'm an outdoor person so inclined to do yardwork. However, I hurt my back a few months ago and it aggravated my arthritis. So I am in a pickle. My mind is willing but my body just isn't cooperating.

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    1. Ann, no fun when you can't do the things you really want to do.

      Lee

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  4. Mowing my lawn in my younger (aka late 20's/early 30's) days was my assigned duty. Beyond that, no other yard work for me. Except maybe the occasional weeding.

    Father Nature's Corner

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    1. GB, yard work is exercise, but I'd rather just walk.

      Lee

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  5. I have no green fingers at all and never did much in the yard of my parents when I grew up, except for some leaf raking once in a while. My brother and I used to wash my parents' car to make some extra pocket money.

    I never had a yard (or house) of my own. That being said, when asked, we take good care of the yards where we house and pet sit, following directions. A lot of people have gardeners (and/or house keepers), which makes it easier for us. :-)

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