Spring and The First Mow

It happenss every year about this time. I head out to the barn out back, unlock the double doors, swing them out and peer into the darkness at my John Deere riding tractor.  I love that tractor. The green and yellow paint, the very idea of owning a John Deere tractor even though it's really a riding mower, makes me smile.

When we bought this place my one caveat was that we would have to buy a riding mower. The steepness of the landscape and the size of the lawn made it all but a necessity. But, even I thought a John Deere brand tractor was a bit pricey when I compared it to a Sears Craftsman mower. So, I went with the Craftsman, and then a few years later after that one began to literally fall apart, I bought another one. After a few years that one. too, began falling apart. Enough!

I headed out to Washington Tractors up in Lynden where I new they had a great selection of John Deere equipment and took a look around. Sure enough there was my new tractor!

Well, maybe I was aiming a bit high. Maybe something a bit smaller would
do. After my daydream of all the cool stuff I could do with that first tractor, I shook it off and wandered over to the area on the lot where riding mowers were on display. I compared the different models and their price tags and settled on that little beauty whose green and yellow backside was staring out at me from the barn door.

I always reach out and give the top of the seat a little stroke before I do anything else. It's also where I hang my ear protectors, A few years too late to protect me from hearing loss, but at least the tractor won't be responsible for any further damage.

As the tractor hasn't been started since last October, the next thing I try and do, usually doesn't work--starting the engine. Inevitably, the battery has gone dead requiring me to connect up the Craftsman device I have in the barn that does still work after 20 years--the battery charger. I pull back the hood and connect the red and black wires to the associated battery leads and turn on the charger. A few hours of this treatment and the tractor is more reasonable about starting. A few cranks until the fuel is running through the lines and she fires up. A puff of smoke comes out the front end and after turning the throttle from choke to run the tractor is ready to back out into the spring sunshine.

The first mowing of the year is usually done with the blades at a higher level as the lawn has become lush and long after all the rain. A second swath at a lower level will usually get the lawn about the right height.

The biggest problem with the first mowing is all the leaves and branches and twigs that lie all over the yard as a result of the sometimes fierce wind storms we can get. I can mow over a lot of it, mulching it as I go. But, there is always enough that can't be mowed to fill the back of the pick-up truck, often a couple of times. Some of that is clippings we have created as a result of new branches that pop out from exisitng plants and trees and out over areas they are not welcome. Blackberries are the biggest offenders and they are a huge pain to get at, always resulting in scratched up arms and hands, blood oozing as if I'd had a fight with a cat. It never seems to matter whether I wear a long-sleeved shirt and leather gloves, I'm still a mess.

And so it goes. Another trip around the sun. Spring has sprung. Daffodils are blooming, camilias, too. The flowering plums are a riot of pink color up and down our street.  The tulips won't be far behind and then we'll leap into those short precious summer months when the sun is up at 6 in the morning and doesn't set until well after 9 PM. Then, as is the way of the far pacific northwest, the days will begin to shorten until the sun comes up later and later and sets by 4.

Happy spring everyone. Enjoy it while it lasts. I know we will.