We both qualify for Medicare and we mow the yard together at the same time with matching mowers. It is serious fun.
There is a kindness in it. Of course there’s a teamwork aspect; if one of us falls down the other will pick the other up. We have so much more capability together. And we would would never leave the other behind.
What is hard alone is joyful together.
There is a miraculous transformation and a joy in the low amount of energy to get it done when we mow together. And the result is this beautiful well-kept green yard that we love looking at when we drive into the driveway or sit on the back patio.
I hope that it brings our friends joy when they see the beauty of it and I wonder if they think about us caring for the yard together. I joke about having our yard crew over and comment about what “good yard help” that we have. When our yard is neatly mowed and edged we are adding peace and beauty.
If I ever see a nice yard I understand the intentionality behind it. Spreading winter fertilizer when the grass is yellow. Spreading pre-emergent weed killer before the grass greens up in the spring. Putting down 40 pounds of fertilizer about every 6 weeks, selectively hand spraying weed killer in the growing season, pulling large weeds by hand. Watering a couple of times a week. A nice-looking yard always implies a well-executed plan. We both like having a nice yard and enjoy caring for it together.
We do most of our lives together. We cook out for people. It is a similar thing. We clean the house together, grocery shop together, I cook the food and Phyllis sets up indoors. Then afterwards, we double team the kitchen until it’s clean. It would not be good to do that alone, but between the two of us, we can pull off some pretty big cooking and entertainment feats.
We develop marriage presentations together and present them together.
We help couples with marriage issues together.
We know that we are best together.
It’s like a 12 Hour road trip to Pennsylvania where we change drivers every couple of hours.
I would not want to do a 12-hour trip alone, but between the two of us we can.
Every time that we mow together it increases my fondness for my sweet baby.
Mowing together a metaphor for something else.
Yard duty is a smaller story within a bigger story.
This is our fifth summer of lawncare in our splendid gift from God home in Spring Hill.
This home has a large yard with plenty of space in the back to gather and entertain people. That is one of the things that we prayed for when we began dreaming about home ownership again in 2015. Actually, the 100-foot-wide lot is 1/3 acre and it takes me about an hour and 15 minutes for me to mow, edge, and string trim alone.
Our first summer in this house in 2020 I was experiencing persistent depression and was unable to mow the yard for a while. It was just overwhelming to think about it. We had a dear kind couple that paid a lawn service to mow our yard during the season when I simply could not. And that committed friendship will always be one of our life’s very most precious things.
The following summer, after I received a miraculous healing from depression when Phyllis prayed for me for two hours while I slept, I was ready to mow again. With Phyllis’ kind and generous help I was ready to get back on the yard team.
Since we moved to Tennessee in 2013, I have continuously owned 2 mowers.
When we moved into this house in 2020, right before I “skipped town” for a while during the depression season, I procured a couple of used Honda mowers. Then in the summer of 2021 we had the equipment to double-team the yard on matching Honda mowers.
These fine machines have a really smart and simple variable speed self-propelled drive device. It allows the operator to creep along at below a walking pace when you push lightly on the control. When you push it all of the way in, it sprints at about 6 miles an hour.
Honda mowers are very mature and elegantly engineered products.
I get great joy out of using our mowers. The Japanese design many of their products with the intention of producing joy when the customer uses them. Honda is the master of well thought out products that bring joy.
So we cut the large yard with fun matching Honda mowers. When I mow alone it is a comforting and enjoyable experience simply due to getting to use a reliable, well thought out and mature product. And then there is mowing synergy when we do it together. When we chase each other around the yard with our mowers, I get much more than twice the joy of doing it alone. Our delightful marriage life group’s motto is “better together.” When we do the lawn together it feels like “best together.” When sweet baby and I do the yard together it is quite a delightful thing. It’s a heart entangling thing like our long easy joyful morning coffee conversations. The yard thing is another layer of goodness in the same story.
When we do the yard together I begin with edging, and string trimming. Then I jump in and help mow the rest of the yard. When we work together, it takes about 30 minutes because Phyllis is determined and quick with the mower. She usually comments on two things: First the smell of fresh cut grass. Second how nice the yard looks when it is freshly mowed. Almost every time since 2021 we have mowed together and it is one of my very favorite couple things. I like watching her as she leaves a vapor trail as she jets through the yard. She is so fast that our neighbor Shelly commented on how determined and focused that Phyllis is when she mows.
That is absolutely true. When we mow the yard, Phyllis typically laps me at least once.
I estimate that I stroll at about 2.5 mph and she is probably approaching 6 mph. If I went full speed the mower would have to drag me because I don’t walk that fast! We mow at our individual speeds. When she helps with the yard, it’s pedal to the metal full boogie speed mowing. That speed difference has always been a part of the Mike & Phyllis story.
Mowing together is way more than teamwork. Sharing this physical task, as sweat drips down our faces and our t-shirts dampen, connects our hearts in another good way. There is something very sweet about carrying the load together. Doing the whole yard alone is enjoyable in some ways and can be lonely and grueling in the Tennessee summer heat. However, together it is bliss. It kind of makes my heart sing in 2-part harmony. This means way more than what it seems. As we finish up the last few passes on the grass we criss-cross the mowers. I see her coming and we are within a couple of mower widths apart. I get a certain special feeling of sincere respect and gratitude. She chooses to mow with me and to make yard duty fun. It’s a picture of commitment and strength. We both have some white hair, me more than her, and I plan to keep mowing our yard forever. She is mighty spunky, capable, and committed. And I am slow and steady.
I have flashbacks from when we were in our 30’s and she was not at all intimidated by driving my “hot rod pickup” a 1980 F-150 with a four on the floor and man-sized clutch actuation. She is small in size but descended from tough Texas farming roots. She was the mom with the grit and commitment to home school our three boys. Mowing together is the continuation of our life story. Just another chapter of a book with many good stories.
We double teamed the yard yesterday. Afterwards our oldest son Brandon came by for a minute on their way to the pool. He said, “Your yard looks great. You guys do such a nice job.” I replied, “I know. We have really good help.”
A couple weeks ago my mowing partner said, “What did you do to my mower? It goes a whole lot faster than yours. What did you do to make mine go so fast?” Yes, she accused me of setting hers for the maximum speed while mine rolls at a comfortable stroll. I was incredulous when I heard this. I remember clearly showing her how to adjust the speed on our mowers several years ago. Both of them are identical. The further that you press the drive control the faster you go. Well, she thought that you had to push it all of the way in. She had forgotten my initial mowing tutorial. When she takes off she still gives it full throttle and launches with wheels spinning. Then she speed walks like she does when she is out for her morning exercise. It is a mighty impressive thing.
When she accused me of locking hers into high-speed overdrive it became apparent that for a long time she has not realized that she had a choice to go at a moderate speed. She thought that I had modified hers to only go full speed. This is our fourth summer of Phyllis shredding the grass at full speed! Yesterday I showed her again how the speed control works. She said that she was not interested because she only wants to mow at full speed. She continues to take off with full gas, wheels spinning and then quickly getting up to terminal velocity. I love that about her. In life she is a fast mover and rarely meanders.
For years I have said that if we both operated at her speed and intensity that we would have caught on fire. I slow her down. She speeds me up.
And the matching Honda mower fun is simply a visual picture of the Mike and Phyllis love story. Best together.