Ride ‘Em Cowboy

My mowing is done for this week. I did it yesterday after the return of my riding mower. A local handyman and friend did a tune up; replacing the filters, the sparkplug, changing the oil, and replacing the nearly worn out blades. He does mower and small engine repairs, but the best thing is he will pick up my mower, repair it, and return it. I don’t have to find a way to get the mower to him. He also raised the front of the mower deck which was low from the time I purchased it. It is so much better.

As he returned it, we were talking and I said I needed to fill the gas tank. He looked. There was half tank of gas, then said, “There’s more than enough gas to do your yard,” then I explained I mow the neighbor’s yard too.

“You should only mow for about an hour, then let the motor cool. It is made of aluminum with iron parts and will cause damage if the motor gets too hot.”

I took his advice and mowed the yards in two mowing sessions.

The riding mower is much easier than the way my uncle Ted Miner mowed. Because of an accident he only had the mental capacity of a 3rd grade student and made money by doing odd jobs. In the summer he mowed lawns. Several of the vacation cottages were 2 miles away from his home in Indian Head, Pennsylvania, but every week he pushed and pulled his Lawn Boy along Route 711 to cottages on Poplar Run Road. His mower was always a green skinned Lawn Boy. Replacements were Lawn Boys, too. To him, nothing else ran as well. He carried his lunch with him. His favorite lunch was a hard cooked egg sandwich slathered with Miracle Whip and covered in salt. He ate Oreos with it. He’d take a bite of the sandwich, then a bite of the Oreo. Once he enticed me to try a bite. It tasted okay, but I wouldn’t want it as my daily fare like he did.

Occasionally I’d go with him to “help.” He didn’t often allow me to use the mower. I think he just wanted someone to talk with when he took a break. I can’t remember how his customers paid him. They may have left money hidden for him, but as soon as he was finished, he walked the area looking for anything he may have missed, before strapping the extra gas can to the mower deck and trudging the 2 miles back home.