Mowing in the Rain

Tonight I provided the comic entertainment for my neighborhood. It was a scheduled rest day but sitting still has never been my forte. House/gardening chores is always a good outlet, and since I plan to be out of town this weekend, I decided to mow my lawn a few days early.

I got home with about an hour left of daylight, and rapidly clouding skies. My next door neighbors were out on their porch enjoying the twilight, sipping beers and admiring their own recently mowed lawn. My girlfriend across the street was home alone with the twins - and so she too was partaking in the only thing a new mommy can do when she's left alone for hours on end with two 7-month old girls - drink beer! And then the three new boys who just moved in diagonally across the street were also settling in for the night -- most likely still recovering from the two crazy, all-night parties they threw this weekend. ;)

We were all chatting and I was starting to feel a tad lazy too, thinking I might want to go to bed too -- when suddenly I felt a single raindrop go PLOP smack on the top of my head. I jumped up and said, "ooh - gotta go mow before the rain starts!" And they all began to laugh. Steve remarked, "Are you serious? I always knew you were crazy!" As I scampered away, I yelled behind me, "I don't have time to debate. I gotta mow before it's too late."

With my Horny Toad dress still on, mary janes and all, I brought out Big Red and started making perfect horizontal lines in my front yard. The drops became steadier, and I threw on my blue Patagonia hooded sweatshirt and started slowly jogging, pushing Big Red faster than he has ever gone. Oops! Too fast -- my line curved. So back I went to re-do it again. As I made the last perfect row, they all laughed, commenting that they didn't think I would get it all in before the rain hit hard. "But, wait! I still have the back yard." The eyes rolled.

I went to the back. I didn't care so much now about the perfectly straight lines -- I just wanted to get done and not have to inhale that awful allergy-inducing stench of wet grass. Yuck! About halfway through, the image of the guy in a yellow rain jacket tap dancing along the sidewalks popped into my head. And I began singing, "I'm mowing in the rain...just mowing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I"m happy once again." Very silly and corny - but fun as ever. I felt alive and free. Who could guess that a person could ever feel so liberated at having to mow the lawn?

I finished in a fury, parked Big Red back in his spot in the shed, and came around to the front. As I curtsied, my neighbors laughed half-heartedly -- if not to congratulate me for a perfectly well-mowed lawn, but to applaud my enthusiastic attempt at "mowing in the rain."

Smiles,

Alikona