Friday, July 20, 2007

why do i feel guilty mowing my own lawn

We bought this house a little over 2 years ago and have been living in it for a little over a year. The story is the stuff soap operas are made of and I don't care to rehash that whole thing again. This move was a slight downsize for us and we really need to do another downsize in the future. The original plan was to live here for two years and then sell. We have not changed that plan, but then again we may not be as committed as we once were. Anyway, shortly after we bought it we found out that the lot next to us was going to be for sale. It was owned by a cousin of my husbands. The thought was since we may want to build in the near future it would be a nice lot to have. Also we needed the room to park the boat and have a spot for some temporary parking during the remodel. We were able to purchase it before it went on the market so no one really knew it changed hands.

The empty lot is grassy with a few trees, nothing special, just a building lot on your average community street. Over the years before we moved here some of the neighbors have, lets find a kind word to put here,.....ADOPTED the empty lot to park campers, an occasional car, boats, oh yes and to put some yard waste. In return, the lot was mowed on a semi regular basis. The mowing kept the city from contacting the owner who lived away from here about weed control.

In fairness, one of the neighbors had a connection with the original owner of the lot. He is in his eighties and his mother was a school friend of the original owner. He didn't know the people who inherited the lot. The ones who owned it before us. He thought he was doing the cleanup duty as a favor and in return he could park his camper trailer. The people who owned our house before us also thought they were taking care of the lot. It was a very strange situation.

Last summer, my first discussion with my neighbor, lets call him mower guy, was the day he saw me mowing the lawn. He was very quick to come out to tell me I didn't have to cut the grass, he took care of it. I tried to tell him that I now owned the lot but he didn't listen. He was nice enough. He just wanted me to know that he took care of it and I shouldn't worry.

I have for the most part let him think that he mows the lawn. But he finally got a clue about the ownership. Oh, here is the part of the story that is the most important!! He has a riding mower and cuts the grass in circles, zig-zags and figure 8's. He also stays far, far away from the trees and he misses patches of grass everywhere. I usually sneak when he is not home and clean up the job a couple times during the summer.

We, like many parts of the country, have not had much rain. There is not much need to mow this summer. When I was mowing my lawn this morning, I decided to do the lot too. The weeds needed to be cut down. I thought the mower guy was not at home. Wrong!! It didn't take him long to be outside telling me he was bringing the big riding mower home next week. And, of course he had to add that he didn't think the grass needed mowing. I found myself trying to justify to him why I was mowing. When I started the mower up again and continued on my mission, I started to wonder why I felt the need to explain my actions and feel as if I need to sneak around. But man, does the lot look great!! The mowing lines match my lawn mowing lines and it flows seamlessly from my house to the lot.

I would take a picture to show you but I'm sure I would have to explain that to mower guy too!!

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