Riding Lawn Mower

Ashburnham, MA

It was a crispy 14 degrees when we started raking leaves yesterday. Initially, we were going to use the gas powered blower but the leaves were stuck frozen to the ground. 

So I pulled out the rake and started. In less than 10 minutes, I had to take my jacket off because I was sweating hard. Four hours later, I was done. The leaves were moved into a pile for composting. 

During that four hours, I was thinking about how much we try to make our lives easier and more convenient. We constantly try to remove work, only to then pay for a gym or an instructor to work us out. We could have just gone out and worked.  

Considering the environmental costs of convenience, not to mention the impact of even having a lawn instead of letting local weeds and herbs grow. It seems worthwhile to question what we are actually doing. 

Human nature chooses comfort and convenience until it obvious that it is hurting us. That’s usually too late. The decision to do more work could save us the gym membership.  The decision to have a smaller lawn and more indigenous plants could save a few more birds and pollinators. The decision not to use fuel could unless you have to could help cut pollution. 

It may seem like a small thing, but if there are 120,000,000 households deciding to do a little more work without fuel, decide not to use herbicides, and let a few of the local indigenous plants grow the whole system will work better for the birds, for the bees, and for ourselves. 

As a bonus you will have earned yourself a beer.