So, it has been a hot minute since I have written anything on this blog. My hopes of 2021 being much easier than 2020 are long gone. My excuse is the same as everyone else's, I suppose: the never-ending pandemic has somewhat sucked the joi de vivre from the marrow of my bones. Sitting down to write hasn't been on the forefront of my mind, but it should be.
I thought about it today because it was one of those days where things sort of slowly fell apart. It was mowing day, and although I normally love mowing the grass, I knew today would be more difficult. You see, we had some sod installed in the backyard around our new pool (Trust me, the pool construction is a rollercoaster of a story in and of itself. Let's not focus on that now. You want a tiny tidbit? I will only communicate with the pool contractor in writing now because I don't trust anything he says, and I want written proof of his shenanigans.) If you know about sod, you know that a riding mower can't be used on it for a while because the roots still need to take hold and it can't handle the weight of a machine that big. No problem. I fired up our trusty electric push mower that we bought in Lexington 9+ years ago, and I hopped to it.
If you haven't been to our fair state during the summer, let me explain humidity to you. Walking out of the door in the morning is like walking smack into a huge, soaking wet washcloth that wraps itself around your body for the day. Being "fluffy" and the age I am doesn't help anything. I spend most of the summer, even when it's a balmy 70 degrees, sweating so much that strangers have actually stopped me to ask if I'm okay. Keep that in mind when I tell you that I started pushing the mower on the very long sod, and I realized that the mower wasn't self-propelled. Sweet JAYSUS. It took a stupidly long time for me to mow just the backyard with that thing, and I was thrilled when I wearily walked it back into the garage. The rest of the lawn could be done with my riding mower, so I put on some tunes and got ready to rock. Things were going along well, and as usual, I had forgotten that my yard is on a well-travelled corner of the neighborhood and I was singing some classic rock at the top of my lungs. As I made a turn, I noticed that the engine kind of hitched a little. I didn't think too much of it until it did it again and then simply stopped. I had gassed it up before I started, so I knew it wasn't that. I opened the hood and stared down at the mower innards. Other than the fact that it was filthy, I registered nothing. I sat, I waited a minute, and then I tried again. This time, it wouldn't even turn over. Donezo. I did the first thing that came to my mind, and I called my parents. My mom commiserated, and my dad came right over. He was pushing *their* electric mower that was, HALLELUJAH, self-propelled. He, too, stared at the mower innards and shrugged. He left me with the new mower, and all was right with the world.
Until the battery died after about two swaths of the lawn. At that point, I had been doing this whole lawn nonsense for literal hours. Resigned, I pushed the mower into the garage, and I went inside to enjoy the AC and a big cup of water. I had been texting my brother and my BFF, and they both sort of thought maybe the Universe was telling me not to mow. I could get down with that. However, my dad is nothing if not persistent, and he brought over the OTHER battery and the charger. Neat.
I finally finished mowing the lawn after four hours. Three mowers plus four hours equals me being even sweatier than normal and far dirtier. Most of my to-do list is being shunted to tomorrow because I don't wanna.
The point of this story? I guess it's just to share the sort of things I have been up to in the last few months of not blogging. Some if it has been frustrating; some has been weird; some has been great fun. It's trending toward the unbelievable now as I watch the cases of Covid rise again, especially in our schools. The same people who complained about remote learning last year are the ones crying now about how masks hurt their children and impair their learning. I guarantee they don't see the irony of how wearing a mask would help kids remain in school without remote learning. My kids are both vaccinated, and they wear masks during the school day. They understand the importance of not only protecting themselves but of protecting others who are vulnerable in society. I wish the adults in the school system understood that or even acknowledged it, but I guess expecting the administration or the school board to listen to scientific reason is asking a bit too much. Pity.
