I grew up on ten lushious acres in rural Minnesota. It had trees that touched the sky with trunks so large my 9-year-old arms couldn’t reach around them.
Yes…I was a tree hugger even back then.
The trees, while remarkable in their own way, do not get the best part award. The actual yard was and still is my favorite. My dad, though he won’t admit it, is a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist and mowing just under 5 acres of grass doesn’t sit well with an impatient brother who just wanted to hang with his friends, I on the other hand, loved it.
My dad even had a system: week 1 – mow in large square shape, week 2 – crosscut forming triangles (point a to point c), week 3 – cut the opposite way in triangles (point b to point d) then repeat the entire system. It looked like a golf course
The riding lawnmower I used had a smaller deck than your nowadays average push mower, though it had 4 gears, I was only allowed to go up to 3rd, needless to say mowing would take us (the perfectionist and me) every second of seven hours. I’m talking perfectly straight lines, taking extra laps – recutting grass JUST to go around trees and keep the lines perfect. As long as I had fresh batteries in my yellow Sony Walkman and my favorite cassette tape I was content riding around, singing at the top of my lungs performing my weekly rock show for the corn field across the street.
Oh the good ol’ days…
But that was definitely then, now is a different story…
I expected to have a yard BETTER than my parents. Our yard is slightly under an acre, it would take NO time to have the BEST yard in the neighborhood.
But then I realized who I married…
A Mr. Fix-it man with HORRIBLE allergies. His allergies are so bad, I don’t think he’d mind staying inside ALL summer long. Yard duties became assigned to me.
My picture perfect yard, quickly became a non-existent dream; especially since the boys are now growing up.
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My uncle used to race dirt bikes. My parents bestie raced monster trucks. I’m used to being around mud, dirt, boys and their toys.
My little men are not any different. We have go-carts and dirt bikes, even though my parents have 10 acres they could ride on they choose our backyard out of convenience.
I’ve decided to put the perfect yard dream to rest; for now. I mean, when I live in a retirement community then I can have a nice yard, but if the kids are going to play outside and NOT be on electronics,
I’ll choose dirt
EVERY
single
time.
