The Lawnmower

You would think with 2 horses, that we would never have to cut the lawn. Well horses need fences and part of the yard is not fenced, a good part of the yard, in fact.

I love cutting the grass on the riding mower. It is zen-like as you plot your course for straight cuts maximizing the 42 in blades so you do not have to make as many passes. Yet you cannot fall into a trace or you will hit a mesquite stump, cringe in panic, praying you don't bend the blades. I have a tendency to mow around wildflowers so I have funny patches here and there. I do not need my lawn to look like a golf course.

Last year after our Craftsman rider mower had been sitting out for a year, dead in the driveway, husband decided to do much research and buy us the perfect mower. He is pretty hard on them but he also has the strength and mechanical ability to fix the minor problems he causes. We ended up with a Cub Cadet zero turn radius mower. Now I am not crazy about this mower because we seem to have had tons of issues with it.

However, I was thinking that maybe we both had gotten the hang of it because we had not had any major problems since getting it back from repair in January. Then after much mowing and not enough cleaning the deck, I blew a belt. It was the belt that made the blades turn so I could still drive it back to the garage. I thought I had figured out the right belt to get and after trips to several stores decided to order it online. That didn't quite work out so I ordered it locally and waited for the call.

Husband picked up the belt three days later. Oops I had ordered the wrong belt. He was not happy (quite the understatement). He had to spend Saturday tracking down the right belt, which he found. He told me he needed me to help to get the belt on. I got very nervous. We do not work well together. On our honeymoon we took a Sunfish sailboat out and capsized every time because we just cannot seem to trust each other. To be fair, he took the boat out solo and did fine.

So we took on the mower together. I let him tell me what to do. I ignored him when he got snippy with me. I tried to be patient, helpful and quiet. Once I understood how the mower was put together, I was much more help. Eventually we got the belt on. No one's feelings or ego got hurt. We accomplished a project together. Honestly I did shed a tear or two because I was so happy we did this. I am not sure why but I felt this was a huge step in our relationship.

I may just learn to love the lawnmower if it does in fact symbolize growth in our relationship.