Start Your Engines
Ahhh spring 2021 has sprung. Birds are in full song, flowers blooming and squirrels scampering about the yard. Coats are finally off, and once again, I am planted outside enjoying the sun and catching up on my reading. Then the silence is broken. I hear the shrill sound of serious yard work being done on the lot next to us. I am quickly reminded of the activity in our neighborhood this time last year…
During the spring, summer, and fall I raise all the windows around the house letting in sunshine, fresh air, and the sounds of nature. On the weekend, sounds change according to the seasons, with neighbors doing outside chores of planting, mowing, resurfacing driveways, blowing leaves, etc. There is a normalcy and a routine to this. I have found our community rhythms to be quite comforting. I have always been able to arrange to work in my studio, on the patio, or relaxing in the yard undisturbed.
That all changed during the Covid 19 lockdown when our neighborhood joined the 2020 Olympic games of yardwork. We live in a community of hardworking people and active retirees. The abrupt halt to going to the office or going about normal activities was not about to stop this group. Now, all energy turned towards sprucing up that one thing mainly performed during the weekends, working in our yards and gardens. Bountiful vegetable gardens began sprouting up everywhere. Branches were trimmed and diseased trees cut down. Beautiful flowers were planted, beds mulched, and lawns manicured.
A competition, or should I say inspiration of sorts around grass cutting, became noticeable. What I like to call the dueling lawn mowers. What used to take place early morning on the weekends and completed by early afternoon started to become an almost everyday occurrence. One morning I was working on the computer and Marley was sitting in the window basking in the sun. Marley suddenly ran out of the room. I then heard our neighbor approaching full blast on his riding mower. I went around the house closing the windows and found a quieter space to work. Returning later when all was quiet again, I resettled and got back to work. Then I heard the blast of a mower again. What in the world, I think! Is Ron doing a second pass-through? I look out the window and I’ll be doggone if I don’t see my husband Darrel fly by on his mower. Surely they could have coordinated and cut grass at the same time!
The next day I decided to work on a piece of furniture in the driveway. It is late afternoon and all is quiet. No movement except for neighbors out for a quiet stroll around the creek. I look up just in time to see the lawn service pull up to the lot on the other side of us. They usually show up around 9:00 am, but here they are after 1:00, and yard debris is flying everywhere. A few days later, I am sitting outside in the sun, feet up, reading a good book. Darrel interrupts me to say he is getting ready to cut the grass. I say, “But you just cut the grass.” He says, “It rained and the grass grew.” Good grief! The next day the City decides to send a crew to trim branches and cut trees along my street (all day looong!) Would you believe it, the day after that our neighbor was back on his mower!
Maybe the grass did start to grow at an accelerated rate during that period of home confinement. Maybe the guys were totally oblivious of each other and were not ‘inspiring’ each other on. Maybe Ron would rather have been out golfing and Darrel somewhere fishing and were both making the best use of their time. Maybe, it was just my imagination and I have exaggerated things a little bit. What I do know is that I reached a point where I wanted to have Darrel and Ron take their mowers to the street, shout out “Gentlemen start your engines,” wave a checkered flag, and have them race their riding mowers straight down into the Delaware River.
Happy Spring everyone. Enjoy getting back to your activities. 🌸
Amanda
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels; Thumbnail: Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels
