Of Mowers, Simple Pleasures, and Kitchens...

7/24/08
Of Mowers, Simple Pleasures, and Kitchens…

We’ve got three-quarters of an acre of grass. Some of it is grass, actually, the rest is plantain, clover, and who knows. Regardless of genus affiliation, the stuff grows, and gets thick, and up until just recently all I owned to keep it trim was a small push mower I bought for thirty-five bucks at a garage sale. Frankly, I’ve got better things to do than spend the two and a half hours it took me to mow the stuff, and although I enjoy sweating and hard labor like the next man (notice I’m actually defining what masculinity is), I’d rather devote that sweat to something more constructive.
To ease my pain, my father-in-law has loaned me one of the riding mowers that our church no longer uses. It’s been sitting for several years, and although in its heyday it was rambunctious and celebrated, it grew old and decrepit. Every nook and cranny was completely packed tight with old grass clippings, and the battery had leaked its acid and corroded the fittings. The tires were flat, and a thick layer of dust had settled.
Eight hours later, spread over a couple of afternoons, it roared to life and once again burned through grass like a terminal hippy. I cleaned all the grass, at least that I could get a hold of, greased the joints and bearings, changed the oil, replaced the battery, and nothing. The key wouldn’t even go click.
I don’t know much about engines. Some online forums provided me with a basis to start digging around and troubleshooting, but all that knowledge in my head was like a mule with a spinning wheel…not sure how he got it, and darned if he knows how to use it. Heh heh…mule. Anyway, I was pretty much wasting my time until my nosy neighbor, Keith, came over and gave me a crash course in small engines 101. It’s amazing the little tricks and stuff that you can learn over time. I’m glad I know some of them now. It turned out that one of the safety switches was shot, and so power wasn’t getting to the starter. After some coaxing and priming of the carburetor, the seventeen horses came to life, and the old machine was back.
Fifteen or so minutes later the entire lawn was mowed. Compare that to the two and a half hours. I now look forward to the next time I mow.
Aside from being able to mow so quickly, the simple fact that I was able (with help) to resurrect that thing gave me intense pleasure. Sara can tell you that I was quite pleased. I must’ve told her how happy that made me a dozen times. Ahh…simple pleasures.
Our kitchen is a mess right now. All the cabinet doors are removed, cleaned, and sanded and await a layer of primer. We’ll paint them white, and the nasty copper colored hardware is being replaced with silver. Sara picked out the paint for the walls, which will be a light, pleasant blue. I’m excited to see the finished product. The current estimate is within the next couple of weeks or so. It might be faster, though, because I just finished the summer semester and have over three weeks of complete free time.
In all that free time I hope to get a huge amount of work accomplished. After the kitchen, I hope to rip out the wall in the dining room and install a sliding glass door to the backyard. That’ll eventually step out onto a deck. Right now there is no efficient way to access the backyard, which is unfortunate because it is so peaceful.

More later.

Regards,

Jonathan