To mow our rather massive yard, it’s a three-step process, although the order can be switched up depending on the circumstances. But first, there is trimming around all of the trees, gardens, structures and the house itself. The next step is to hand mow both the backyard portion that we use everyday and around some of the said same structures, including the strip of lawn that separates the garden from a small drainage ditch in our side yard. Then, there is the riding lawn mowing.
That work – which obviously involves the bulk of the yard – includes the front side yard, the massive front yard and the “way back” backyard. All in all, mowing can take 4-6 hours, depending on the amount of trimming. Yesterday, because the way back hasn’t grown much (it’s the shadiest part of the yard), it took me 3.5 hours. So, not a bad first start to the mowing season. From now through mid-June when the days are mild and we get a fair amount of both rain and sunshine, mowing the grass can be a twice-a-week adventure in home ownership. It’s at least every four days. So yesterday’s adventure kicked off the season for mowing which will get much busier before it finally slows down in summer.
Anyway, yesterday, I trimmed then hand mowed and finally climbed onto the lawn mower for the first time since November. Honestly? It felt good.
I love several things about mowing, particularly our front yard. First, with a set of earphones on and the now-lowered constant hum of the engine, the rest of the world slips away. It’s just me and my thoughts. Second, there is a sense of instant satisfaction in mowing. Take a few swipes and what was looking raggedy now looks clean and tidy. (By the way, I feel the same way about painting.) And finally, once mowed, my front lawn looks like a private park. It’s absolutely beautiful. Now, the same lawn unmowed can also make the house look abandoned. But mowed? Spectacular.
So, given the opportunity, it’s not surprising that I often have little mini epiphanies on the lawn mower. There was the time I decided to convert the guest room downstairs to a more comfortable space, the time I figured out a client’s problem on the very last swipes of the mower, the time I figured out the best Christmas gift I have ever given my husband… . The list could go on. But yesterday?
Well, yesterday, I was enjoying the fact that the tractor-swallowing front ditches were gone and mowing had become infinitely easier without them. Living in a rural area, we had petitioned the town last year to allow us to fill in the ditches by laying pipe and then backfilling. They did us one better: they did the work for free but charged us for materials only. We were sold! And after three solid days of work, the 250-feet of road frontage we have is now nicely covered in and there’s just no place for my tractor to slide into oblivion. Since the work was done in November, this would be the first opportunity I had to experience mowing without that take-your-life-in-your-hands experience of mowing by the ditch.
I had gotten onto the tractor at 1 p.m. and I knew I had a 3 p.m. call for work so my goal was to finish the lawn in time to clean up and take the call. And genuinely, those were the only things on my mind when I noticed it: I was driving the mower very slowly.
If you knew me, you would know that a slow lawn mower isn’t my style. In fact, slow anything is usually not my style. But a slow mower? Even with my obsession of mowing in straight lines, I can whip that puppy around the lawn faster than anyone. So, what gives? Believe me, I asked myself that same question. The answer was a testament to my successful transition to mostly retired: I wasn’t in a hurry. Even with a call in two hours, I knew that the front lawn part of the lawn mowing usually takes 60-75 minutes and that I would have time for my call. And honestly, there was nothing else to be in a hurry for.
I feel like that was one of those moments I’ll point back to years from now and say, “that was when it finally sunk in.” Because it’s true. I am genuinely not in a hurry anymore. Can I say I’m fully adjusted to my new life? Nope. I’m definitely not there yet. I haven’t lived it enough that days have become routine or that I’ve completed enough of the lingering projects and tasks around here to have gotten us fully caught up. But, am I closer to new life vs. old life? Here, I can say definitely. My focus is shifting everyday to new life vs. old life. I’m also growing more confident everyday that my microbusiness will be a success and that I can translate all of my newfound time to help release some of the time demands on Darryl. The past few days themselves have demonstrated that. The evenings have been low-key and stress-free and while his days are still busy, the fact that life has become just incrementally easier is – I hope – making this whole deal work for him as well as me.
Of everything I wanted out of this move – professional freedom, more free time, a focus on home and family, opportunities to be both creative and exploratory – the free time is emerging as the lynchpin to most of those other goals. I’ve already read two books. I have plans on Friday to spend the day with my bestie. I’m slowly getting out in front of everyday life so that it remains calm and quiet. It all has to do with time. Time, which has been my enemy for so long, is slowly becoming a friend.
And that’s what I learned on the lawn mower yesterday. I was driving slow because I could. I was driving slow because it wasn’t as important to be hypervigilant and hyper-focused on completing this one task as efficiently as possible. Instead, it got done when it got done and I wasn’t so concerned about my 3 p.m. call. Most of all? It was all unconscious on my part. It wasn’t until I noticed how slowly I was driving that it dawned on me that it wasn’t an issue with the lawnmower but instead a difference in my approach.
The Yuppie Homesteader 