A Lawnmower’s Story

by John C. Westervelt

I loved my gasoline powered Toro reel lawnmower, not in the same way I love you, but loved nevertheless. Maybe in part because from age twelve to sixteen, I earned my way with a push-type reel mower. My mower was new about the time my son Paul began mowing at age twelve. When he got a real job at sixteen, his little sister Mary Kim mowed the grass. After planting zoysia grass in the front shade many years later, I bought a rotary mower because the reel mower could not be set high enough for the new grass. I continued to use my reel mower on the backyard bermuda to get a good surface for croquet. When my grandson Brett took over my mowing for several years, he used the rotary mower on all the yard. With the onset of geriatric allergies and arthritis, I’ll not return to mowing.

This morning I brushed a layer of dust off of my old friend, put the manuals in a clear plastic sack, tied two new spark plugs to the handle, and with a heavy step walked the mower down the drive to the front walk. After the Amvet truck passes down my street today, a new era of history begins.

Return to Table of Contents