We bought it a couple years ago. My easy-going wife liked it well enough, but I wasn't too happy with its performance. After a short time I gave in and bought a used gas mower.Now, that I am of the mind that the 'american lawn is the bane of the environment', we are using it again.
(Oddly I am still at complete peace with the degrading condition of our lawn. Tho, its quite possibly my clever wife is sneaking prozac into my morning coffee).
Last week I was out cutting the front lawn with it. It does a decent job, leaving the lawn looking more natural than manicured.
Since the mower is silent I can hear everything going on around me. Instead of hearing cars zip by all too fast I heard the clip-clop of hoofs.
I looked up and sure enough a horse and buggy were travelling down our busy, double yellow-line street. They were from the farm down the street that still sells fresh eggs, corn, even raw milk (what does one do with raw milk... Guy?)
Cars were lined up behind them. I am sure they were annoyed.
We were able to chat for a moment as they trotted by our house. I commented that it was such a lovely evening for a ride - they commented back how nice and quiet my mower was.
It was a moment.
A moment out of time... in busy suburban Connecticut.
yeah. We're keepin' the mower.
10 comments:
Huzzah for your new mower!
Awesome! I need to buy one of those... we don't have any mower right now and are paying a landscaper to cut our grass.
People and their lawns crack me up. I agree that a freshly cut bright green lawn looks nice, but is it really that important?
hey! i've read your blog for a while and this is the first i've commented. i just wanted to tell you that we have reel mower too - our yard is small and it makes sense. it's nice to know we're not the only ones who enjoy it. but boy, does it make my arms sore!
Raw milk? Dietary Russian Roulette. Some folks like it that way. I've learned my lesson twice with raw milk. Months of gastro problems. I'd only use raw milk to make cheese which pasturizes itself naturally with time.
Nice touch delivering with a wagon. I should deliver my honey and hive products on horseback.
oh.. on raw milk. My sister gets migrains when she drinks pasturized milk, but raw milk doesn't affect her. She even likes it warm.. yep. that means fresh from the udder.
Can't do it.. not even if you paid me.
I too bought a used gas mower last year when I bought my home. It's noisy and dirty and I hate it! I wanted one with a rechargable battery, but just couldn't swing the dollars for one. The manual mower is an option I had forgotten all about.
I will NOT water my lawn. I don't care how brown and dormant it goes in the summer.
Between that and my clothesline, my neighbors love me!
I'm still using my Murphy, $179, WalMart special mower. It's not self-propelled, which provides me with much needed exercise. I've just gotten my lawn to be one of the best looking ones on the block, whereas it was probably the worse when I bought. Maybe in a few years I'll let it go a little, but for right now I want to enjoy my progress and success. Those old reel mowers are really cool. Haven't seen one in years.
We have a mower like that, bought for the far side of the yard (little strip on the other side of the trees by the corner street) that the electric mower can't reach. Fran decided the area is too much of a dog park to mow, but before that, she wasn't pleased with the performance.
I think I'd not believe my eyes if I saw a horse and buggy go down the road, even up here.
I used to use my Dad's old reel mower when I lived in Boston. It was nice to not have to breath in all those fumes while cutting the lawn.
Don't think I could handle the raw milk - yuck.
I tried really hard to like my reel mower... but then I couldn't move for the next three days. I really wanted to have an earth friendly alternative but I didn't complain when my friends brought me their old electric.
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