The April Showers have begun and this week we have had not one, but TWO! Tornado Warnings/Drills at the Haribo! The last one was Friday and lasted 45 minutes! I guess there was some flooding in Milwaukee.... But seriously... I have never seen a Tornado in the Midwest. Usually, it is just some strong winds with thunderstorms. I'm actually kind of fond of them. ( Sometimes they even drop a tree in our yard for carving purposes!)
But there has been lots of rain this year! It even rained today! (Slight sprinkle.) And with the rains come all of those flowers. I walked around the neighborhood and took a few pics of the tulips and daffodils. Also, a bunch of the trees are beginning to sprout and flower up! It won't be long now before all of those fruit trees start painting the landscape with pinks and yellows.
I even found the first mushrooms of the year! I'm guessing these are something from the "Inkcap Family" Possibly edible, but inkcaps have a reputation of making you ill if you drink any alcohol after eating them. ( Up to three days!) And some will just make you sick regardless. I did not harvest any. I'll wait for Morels.
In addition to the flowers and mushrooms, the spring rains have also triggered the growing grass in the yard. And after last fall, the caretakers of this property asked if I would mind taking over the lawn maintenance. I agreed... After all, it was soon going to be winter and I had thought I would be out of this place by the first of the year!
But plans tend to change and here we are in April! So it looks like I had better make good on the commitment. It has been about 30 years since I actually mowed a lawn. ( Not counting the times I worked for the DNR. That was a Tractor/brush hog) I used to mow our yard growing up. Me! With a purple push mower from Sears that hated cutting grass almost as much as I did. It took about 30 pulls to get the thing started. It was loud, heavy, and dull as a butter knife. Mom used to make me re-mow all of the sections I had just finished because it would not cut the Dandelions or Plantain stalks. Looking back, it could have probably been a better experience had I given it a good cleaning, tune-up, and sharpened the blade... But I was a KID! With no small engine experience or knowledge. And Mom would just yell at me until I got the thing running. She must have thought that that just yelling at something would fix it. Mom yelled at everything. And most times, it worked! (Mostly because people just got tired of her throwing a fit over everything and would just fix it for her....)
So I had to mow the yard. Not Eric! Eric.... a Genius! Mowed the lawn only once. And he did such a bang-up job that the job was quickly handed off to me shortly after I took my first steps! Eric was so thorough in his mowing, that he made sure to mow off all of Mom's flowers.
And I'm not talking stray flowers that grew wild in the yard. I'm talking "Flower Beds!" Mowed down to the dirt! (GENIUS move!) You might be thinking "what kind of idiot would jump over the meager landscaping and mow off the Tulips, Hyacinths, and Irises?" But you would be mistaken. He did not do it out of stupidity... He did it intentionally!
You see, Eric was much smarter than he pretended to be. Mom and Eric never really got along. And whenever Eric would not want to do something, he would become "Extra Dumb." To the point Mom would call him and idiot and make me do it instead. Not wanting to be dumb, myself... or get yelled at more, I would do the job and try to do it so Mom would leave me alone.
It did not take long for Eric to be banned from the lawnmowing.... And I was forced to take up the slack. Genius! And I was the actual dumb one not figuring that out until years later.
But when I finally had enough money. (A small savings account with birthday money. I purchased a new lawnmower and learned to assemble and maintain it myself. (Because Dad was usually out of town working... Otherwise he would have assembled i! Because I would "hurt myself" if I ever used any of his tools....) I remember the lawnmower was from Kmart. It was the cheapest one they had. ($70 Bucks!) And it was lighter, quieter, and started on the second pull!
I remember changing the spark plugs and washing the heat sinks. I cleaned off the fuel filter and sharpened the blades. In short, I maintained it and it actually worked! We had that machine until I went to college. Then Dad purchased a riding lawnmower so Mom could mow the lawn in my absence. (Dad still worked out of town and Mom never trusted the neighborhood kids to "do a good job."
And so it was that I have not pushed a mower since then. Nor have I had any opportunities to work or assemble a small motor. Until today!
I bought a small lawn mower at Menhards yesterday. And I have to say, the entire event is rather exciting. Not so much the cutting of the grass... But mostly the assembly and maintenance of the machine.
I have to say, it is just like riding a bike! (Figuratively speaking...) The box came with instructions... But who needs those? Besides, they are usually in twelve different languages anyway. And who wants to read that much or be told what to do? (Luckily, there were pictures!)
Most of the assembly was intuitive. The wheels go on the frame. The Handle goes on the back part. And that was pretty much it. They did have BIG RED WARNING signs alerting the customer that they needed to add fuel and oil to the machine before they could operate it. Something I still knew after all of those years of having my own. {Cough, cough...}
It did take a couple of pulls to get it going. ( Even after priming it..) but it ran great! And was the perfect size for the small yard around this house. It only took about 15 minutes. Unlike the yard I grew up with, this yard is small and easy. Back in Michigan, our property was NOTABLY larger! We lived on about an acre and a half or land and I used the push mower for it all! It was also filled with large sandy patches mixed with old brush piles and stumps that mom insisted should be mowed over. It usually took me several hours to complete, counting the Kool-Aid Breaks I would take between yards. 
Now I am not a yard man. I have no intent to purchase a weed trimmer or edging tool for a completely manicured lawn. In fact, being in the natural sciences, I abhor those lawns! (Bad for bees, butterflies, and the soil!) But I do like the minimum of a mowed lawn. And there was a bit of nostalgia that accompanied the experience. Mostly on the equipment, and less about the actual job. I would wager that I am probably the first one in the neighborhood to mow their lawn for the year. ( Unlike Iowa, Where I'm sure Don has already mowed his lawn 4 times!)
With yard work completed, I now plan on spending the rest of the day inside with the cat. She could use a little attention after a week of late work nights.
(At least I had this Saturday off....) She currently is whining over something, ( probably attention) and I should probably end this post soon. It ended up much longer than I had originally thought it would be. But that is what happens when I take a week off from blogging. I guess that writing bug has to manifest itself somewhere!
In the mean time, I will try to contribute to the blog more regularly... And make every remaining second count.
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