I've Got His Back

Since Ron broke his rib, I have been trying to help him where ever I can. Let me first start by saying that Ron is getting better every day! That is the best news! He's not 100% yet, but he is definitely moving in the right direction.

One thing I did last week was to drive Ron to his service calls. That's not a bad gig, especially when the weather is nice. I drive, then sit in the parking lot and read my book until he's finished. See? Not a bad gig.

Saturday, I thought we couldn't put off mowing the lawn any longer. When Ron is healthy, I try to help with the lawn by doing the hand mower work. He has to start the mower for me since I have trouble pulling the string, but once it's going, I can go around the house, around the trees and signposts and then sit and watch him on the riding lawn mower do the rest.

I tried to learn how use the riding lawn mower during our first summer with the mower. It has been a horrible memory for me. I remember popping wheelies, screaming, wind rushing through my hair as Ron walked beside me trying to tell me I was fine. Yes, a scary experience. I don't know if it was my screams or just the humor of the whole situation, but we actually had neighbors pull up lawn chairs in the street to watch me make a spectacle of myself. Yeah, that's the last time I was on the mower.

Well, again, I'm trying to help Ron. And, inside I KNOW it's a good idea that I know how to use all of our toys, so I told Ron that if he helped me again get started, and then stay close by, I'd try again and ride the riding lawn mower.

I did all of the hand mowing and Ron started with the riding mower. I won't do the tree lines with the riding mower since I feel I am too close to the street plus I feel like I'm going to tip over for some reason by the curb. So, while I'm futzing, Ron got the tree lines done. Sweet deal! Once I was done, I was ready to take over.

I climbed on board, Ron again showed me the speed thingie, the different gears (higher gears go faster and faster. I stayed at number 2 out of 6!), the brakes and everything else I should know. Ok, I'm ready. I let go of the clutch, felt like I popped a wheelie, I screamed, and I was off. Off of my rocker, I know, but really, I was mowing!

Ron has a pattern on how he mows the grass. But, he was nice enough to just let me try to figure out my own. He pretty much said "there's the yard; mow it."

I didn't do it as neatly as he did, and I had to go over a few spots. It seems that I cut my corners a little short so I had to go over a bunch of them! And, yesterday when we went out, I saw I missed another section. Oh well. For my first attempt, I think I did pretty well! At least the grass is cut and all looks good in our world.

After all is said and done, the riding lawn mower might be a little easier than the push mower but not much! It's hard to freakin' turn, it still scares the heck out of me, it doesn't drive in a straight line and it takes a lot longer to do. I'd much rather be the one done first and sitting on the porch watching him finish.

So there you go, honey. I really hope you're back to 100% soon. I have proven to myself that I can do some of your chores, but to be honest, I'd rather not! I'm handing the keys to the mower back to you. I'll stick with my old chores!