Growing up, my sister and I did chores for my dad to earn extra money. The most memorable of which was mowing the lawn.
It's important to note that my dad's yard is about the size of a football field. It was my dad's requirement while mowing the lawn that we wear protective glasses (the big square black ones that people wear when they get their pupils dilated and old people wear when they drive) an ugly trucker hat (at a time when this was not hip), and a white dust mask. This was certainly not stylish, and it resulted in horrible tan lines. Also, it was blazing hot during the summer in Alabama, and the humidity was suffocating. But mow the lawn we must, because we don't want anyone seeing overgrown grass in the yard if they happened to drive down my dad's big long driveway and actually get near his house.
Dad had a John Deere riding lawnmower, which made it slightly easier. As those of you who have had the chance to mow in style may know, the John Deere lawnmower has two main speeds, turtle speed and rabbit speed. There's also a middle speed, but my sister and I generally ignored that one. The turtle speed (which is obviously slowest) was used for when Dad was watching. The rabbit speed (faster, but not fast enough) was used for when he was not watching.
There were also obstacles in mowing the lawn. There were holes in the ground, sticks lying in the grass below trees, etc. The sticks were easy to handle, because we simply ran them over at full speed. The lawnmower would hack on the wood a bit, and then spit out some woodshavings. Same with tree roots.
After we'd finished with the lawnmowing, we were rewarded with $20. At the time, this was quite a fortune and well worth the misery. Now, not so much.
It's important to note that my dad's yard is about the size of a football field. It was my dad's requirement while mowing the lawn that we wear protective glasses (the big square black ones that people wear when they get their pupils dilated and old people wear when they drive) an ugly trucker hat (at a time when this was not hip), and a white dust mask. This was certainly not stylish, and it resulted in horrible tan lines. Also, it was blazing hot during the summer in Alabama, and the humidity was suffocating. But mow the lawn we must, because we don't want anyone seeing overgrown grass in the yard if they happened to drive down my dad's big long driveway and actually get near his house.
Dad had a John Deere riding lawnmower, which made it slightly easier. As those of you who have had the chance to mow in style may know, the John Deere lawnmower has two main speeds, turtle speed and rabbit speed. There's also a middle speed, but my sister and I generally ignored that one. The turtle speed (which is obviously slowest) was used for when Dad was watching. The rabbit speed (faster, but not fast enough) was used for when he was not watching.
There were also obstacles in mowing the lawn. There were holes in the ground, sticks lying in the grass below trees, etc. The sticks were easy to handle, because we simply ran them over at full speed. The lawnmower would hack on the wood a bit, and then spit out some woodshavings. Same with tree roots.
After we'd finished with the lawnmowing, we were rewarded with $20. At the time, this was quite a fortune and well worth the misery. Now, not so much.
