Burned

Like everyone else in our region, I rushed out yesterday to catch the sun. We had been granted a window of 24 hours between the rains. The sun was making an appearance for a short span of time. You could hear the lawn mowers going from early morning until late in the day. Everyone was catching up on their yards.



I was no exception. I had weeks of weeding to deal with. I started with the weed pulling first thing in the morning. The ground was wet and the weeds came out easily. I even got some gigantic one foot roots that had defeated me in the past, just because the soil was so saturated. I filled the big brown garbage can with weeds all the way to the brim. The perimeter of the yard looked vastly improved. It took hours.



I pulled out my push mower. It is very reliable as it has no motor. My boys hate it, but it guarantees to get the job done. Not as well or as fast or efficiently as a gas mower, but it always starts so to speak. I tell my boys it is my effort to go green. I just love the fact I don't have to struggle to get it started. I just push it and the grass goes flying off the back blade. It is a cheap model I have found though. When I bought it I paid less than $100. There was a John Deer push mower that had adjustable height and a bag on the back. Had I to do over I debated whether to pay the extra $50 at the time, and hind sight being 20/20, I should have gone for the John Deer.



A good friend once had a lot of lawn, so he had a lawn tractor. He started out with an MGB or some brand. After a season, he sold that lawn tractor and bought a John Deer. He didn't like how his old machine cut the grass. The John deer is just a better machine. That is how I feel. I think I will eventually cave and buy that John deer. I paid a repair shop $135 to get my old self propelling lawn more fixed and ready for the season. It worked for a couple of weeks, then Trevor left it out over night for a couple of days. He also put in some old gas that I think was contaminated. Anyway, the dang mower starts then stops immediately. Its frustrating and not worth it. So, I pull out old reliable.



It takes twice as long, but the job gets done. Twice as long is still less than an hour with these small lawns. But I am exhausted after hours of weeding first. I start to lose patience with my family sitting on their butts inside on this glorious day. We all know the window of sun is short. They should be outside. So I go in to harangue them. I want help.



Trevor huffs. He doesn't want to mow the lawn with the push mower. So I tell him he can vacuum inside. We are having company for dinner and Riley is having a sleep over. Vacuuming the floor would be really helpful since the kids might be sleeping on it. Getting rid of Bucky's hair changes the color of the carpets when you vacuum. I tell the boys they also have to pick everything up off the floor to vacuum. so I get the piles gathered as a bonus.



Tom is watching TV. Its Belmont today and a golf tournament. He is right in the middle of everything. He also thinks he might be coming down with a bug. I continue the outside chores and let Tom lead the inside war. I get the the first floor accomplished before Tom tells the boys he is done, put the vacuum away. I will take that small success.



My feet ache, my back aches, but I don't want to give up the sun yet. I am now lying on the grass pulling the long blades out of the borders that the push mower can't get. Crawling along in the sun. Trevor comes out and tells me Daddy told him he was finished. I know its because the noise of the vacuum interferes with the TV sounds. No problem the first floor is presentable. I do tell Trevor to carry the vacuum upstairs so we can tackle those floor the next day. If the vacuum sits out where I see it, I sometimes am inspired to use it. Since it is conveniently located. Tucked away the odds are against my even contemplating the thought.



After 4 or 5 hours I finally am so exhausted I have to quit. There is no room in the garbage for more weeds anyway. I come in and shower and change. The sweat has soaked my clothes. Tom tells me to shower also which means I also stink. The yard looks so much better.



The guests arrive and I order pizza to be delivered. I am too tired for any more effort than that.
As the evening progresses though I notice my arms have red rashes on them. I figure I must have been in contact with some weed today that irritated them. The red gets redder. In the bathroom I see my shoulders in the mirror. Oh no, I am burned. I get darker red as the evening progresses. At bed time I put on some heavy duty creams on the areas. Too little too late.

I tell the boys they can watch TV and play games until 11:00 pm then lights out. At 11:00 they start a movie. I tell them when it is over its bed time. At 2: am I peak over the banister because I hear voices. and see flickering lights.. They are on the computer. I tell them if they play this game there will not be sleep overs this summer. The place goes silent for good. 5:00 am I hear voices. Our young guests are awake. Our neighbor boy decides he is up and ready to go home. No problem. After being up all night he probably wants to sleep in his own bed. I tell everyone its too early and people namely Tom and me are still sleeping.

My neck and shoulders have been stinging all night, which is one reason I kept hearing the children even through my ear plugs. I wear ear plugs every night. I have to get Riley up at nine in the morning since Riley has to take his meds. At some point during the night Riley came upstairs and crawled into his own bed. The whole house is now quiet. Now the children all sleep. Tom gets up at 10:00am. He has a cold for sure now. He tells Riley to stay away from him. I tell Tom to wash his hands frequently. I also tell Tom he should wake all the kids still sleeping. After all they kept me awake all night and in pain.

As the children awake I can tell they are grouchy from their all nighter. I think I'll hide in my room today until it is time to take the last one home. The rains are back. Which is fine since with these sun burns I wont be able to do much of anything anyway. I can look out and admire my tidy yard.