The Hippie Mower

A few posts ago I had whined a bit about the reel mower we bought. Well, thanks to my brother lending us one of his for comparison, we realized that we didn't have it adjusted right, which is why it was just folding the grass over, instead of cutting it. Once we had the reel adjusted low enough to just skim the cutting edge, things got a lot better! I mowed here and there around the yard for a while, until it started to rain. It is still much better to use it on grass that hasn't yet grown too long, so we will have to not fall behind in our mowing. This mower will also be good for cutting the new grass that will hopefully be growing later this summer, if we ever get our dirt delivered!

Later in the day yesterday I was pulling weeds out from underneath our little birch tree, all the while grumping about how noisy the neighbors' gas-powered weed-wacker is, spoiling my country quietude. I was feeling all self-righteously ticked off, until it dawned on me that they probably use a lot less energy and emit far less carbon than we do, because they live in a fifth wheel trailer attached to their small garage. It later occured to me that, on a larger scale, this is what we North Americans tend to do: feel superior because we are taking small steps (like changing our lightbulbs or buying flat panel computer monitors) to reduce our footprint on the earth, all the while looking down on people in developing countries because they still use propane cooking stoves. Time to re-evaluate that attitude. And time for me to stop grumping about the neighbors.