MOWER MAN

 It is THE PERFECT DAY here in Upper Michigan and I am taking full advantage of this wonderful weather because I know it could be snowing tomorrow. 

The Man and I had decided that today would be devoted to cleaning up the "flower bed" outside the French doors in the kitchen.  When ever we are sitting at the kitchen table, like ALWAYS, our view is of the back field, the barn and this God awful mess that is supposed to be an eighteen inch wide, fifteen feet long bed of flowers.  I've written about it before.  The wild roses have totally taken over the space and are killers for plants and humans who dare try to invade their space.  It is a MESS of vines, underground roots, horrible thorns and spikes the likes of which I have never encountered before.  In the spring there were Peonies blooming here but they have succumbed to the viscous roses.  

Today is bright and sunny,  just about seventy degrees. The perfect day for working in the garden. 

IF YOU ARE TWENTY YEARS OLD !

Sadly The Man and I are well past twenty years old and even though our brains say we can do something our bodies SCREAM NO !!!!!!!   

I am now witting outside with one ice pack on my shoulder and another ice pack on my back. We managed to attack about two thirds of the "garden" before we both fell apart.  I went into the house to take a couple of Bayer Back and Body pills and to grab the ice packs while The Man went to bed !  SMART GUY !  I left him to recharge while I came back outside to sit in my lawn chair and relax in the sun.  It was WONDERFUL !   Every so often I would get up and sweep a little dirt off the patio or walk around and pick up a few sticks from the yard.  After about two hours of this The Man showed up and decided to cut some grass.  

Mower Man LOVES his ride on mower and tractor but it has been quite a few weeks/days since he has been out mowing.  It's been too hot or too cold, either the sun is too hot or the rain is too cold.  But the bottom line is The Man has not been feeling well.  Over the past couple of months I have seen him getting weaker and weaker.  Just subtle changes but his breathing is definitely getting worse so any physical exertion leaves him drained.  He has tried to get one of the neighborhood kids to mow the yard for us but that is just causing The Man more anxiety. As he sits at the kitchen table watching the kid mow The Man becomes more and more agitated because the kid is "Not doing it right!". Who knew there was a right and wrong way to mow grass ! Apparently one must go up and down a certain way, or start on the outside and work your way to the center, or is it start at the center and work your way out?  I'm really not sure exactly what the "proper" way to mow is but how ever the kid does it The Man is pissing and moaning that it's not right.  He never says this to the kid. He just sits at the table getting more and more upset. 

I have thought about having The Man teach me how to drive the mower but then I came to my senses and decided that was NOT a good idea ! And what was that blog I just wrote a few days ago about doing too much ?

You would think that sitting on a ride on lawn mower to cut the grass would be relaxing, if not boring. Mower Man some how manages to make it exhausting.  Even with him pulling a cart behind the mower so he can put an oxygen tank in there in order to have oxygen flowing the entire time he still gets winded.  I keep telling him to raise the oxygen intake from two to three so he would get more oxygen but he has a mental block about doing that.  It is his way of denying that his breathing is getting worse.  I TOTALLY get it but I would think that upping the oxygen is preferable to dropping dead. I'm just saying . . . 

Bottom line is the back yard looks wonderful this evening.  Flower bed is almost all cleaned out, the back lawn is all cut and looking wonderful and the deer are super happy because Lawn Mower Man drove his mower all the way out to the pond and made a nice wide cut in the tall grass so the deer can have a "green carpet" to walk down when they come into the yard tonight for their nightly snack of corn. 

I bet we all sleep well tonight !