I walked behind the mower today and then walked behind the vacuum cleaner; I prefer the lawnmower, although it is harder to push and a great deal harder to turn. I don’t have a self-propelled one now because our yard is just so small and so many things to go around. So, yeah, in the strong heat of summer I mow a little bit and then rest . . . and make sure I drink frequently. But today was okay to mow – and I did.

I have been mowing for decades – starting with a reel mower. Sometimes looking at the grass in front of the mower, I could be 12 or 59. It’s not that I don’t think of current things when I mow  – it is just that there are times when all I am aware of is the line of mowed grass and unmowed in front of me, of the smell of it.

I feel I am just a little closer to the people who went before me in my family, doing this basic sweaty work.