Sunday, September 21, 2008

For all intents and purposes - A Country Girl . . .

(as close as I dared go and bear in mind that there were more cows when I was mowing closer to them and also they look MUCH bigger in person:)

The other day when I had the day off and was the only one home I decided to do something that I haven't done in quite some time - - - -mow the lawn.  I have to say that in my youth (and some may disagree but remember that I'm right) I was the designated mower.  I can remember long sunny afternoons as I pushed our mower around every inch of our lawn and grandpa's and doing it all out of the love of my heart.  As the years went by and into my teens Mario and Marcos began to be old enough to help out now and again, and I have to say that after all my years of hard work I was glad for the change.  Well, I reflected upon all of that as I went out to the mower which has since changed to the wonderful riding mower that helps make the process SO much easier and welcoming.  I decided to start in the back with the huge field that we used to use as a baseball diamond and that leads to the entrance to the field.  I have always considered myself a country girl  - in the fact that I like the country, the wide open space - and definitely not in the way that means I come in contact with animals because since I can remember they scare the crap out of me.  Horses, cows, dogs, cats, mice, goats - the list goes on.  Now the field is home to Burt's cows and the lawn that I was mowing comes right up to the gate.  The gate used to be strong and sturdy but since Uncle Jim has moved to Peterson and used it a lot more it has become flimsy from all of the use.  As I began approaching the gate many of those great giant beast's we call cows, began to move very close to the fence and I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Now put together my fear of animals and the flimsy fence and you have a recipe for disaster.  All of a sudden I was seeing visions of the cows pushing through the fence and making my quiet mowing experience into my own private running of the bulls where they would trample me and no one could save me for the mere fact that no one would come looking for me "out in the field, mowing" and I would die alone with my last image of this great world being cow's feet(or is in hooves - who knows).  Now, with all of that running through my head I did what any self respecting Agrizoophobe would do - - - I decided to only mow the half of the lawn away from the crowd of cows while constantly turning to make sure they weren't coming at me from behind.  I can tell you it wasn't easy but, the fact that I am now writing this can put your heart at ease that I didn't die from a trampling of cows. . . . .

12 comments:

Uno said...

What an amazing piece of fiction...Especially the part about you being the "Designated Mower." I am glad that you did not fall prey to the vicious cows...

Funny but the memory part absolutely not true!

Uno...

marcos alvin said...

oh. my. goodness.

mia, i can't even begin to tell you the lies that you have slithered across this post...

i almost couldn't breathe when i read about you being the designated mower and how you worked so hard during those long sunny days...

ladies and gentleman, i've maybe seen mia next to a mower once...

maybe.

keyword: maybe

alright, so hopefully this was the rough draft... maybe the next time around you'll include some truth!

love,

donnely

marcos alvin said...

wow...

five minutes later and i'm still burning with anger and frustration...

to think you could honestly post this in all confidence that it's true?

wow.

Wendy said...

I believe you. I remember many days driving by to go visit Burt (when I was younger you know) and I would see Mia out there slaving away mowing as all three boys sat around making movies. I was there Mia, I believe you.
W.

Wendy said...

Tss, tss, tss, Sister. To think we had just started trusting your "memories" again.

I could show you the burnt headphone band of my late Walkman that spent many a summer hour burning hot upon my head as I mowed all the Chard lawns. That's right--all of them.

There is a logbook of mowing hours in heaven. And I will one day flip through those pages and find my name at the top of the list of Chard siblings, glowing lightly in honor of the blood and tears I left on those verdant, Peterson fields.

One day.

M.

Wendy said...

(Last post posted by M. under the guise of his wife's sign-in.)

mia veronica said...

I return your attention to the post and the fact that I told you that I would be doubted but I have to remind you that Mario and Marcos are younger than I and while they were still dreaming of lego fields and hours of Mortal Combat - I indeed mowed many a lawn including Grandpa's and I have older more reliable witnesses named Doug and Susy Chard.

It is true. I tell NO lies.

Uno said...

It is getting deep in here!

Why do I seem to be left out of this debate...I MY FRIENDS HAVE MOWED MORE LAWNS THAN ALL OF YOU COMBINED!

Enough Said...

by the way......Mia i love you

Uno...

Uno said...

I was reading over these comments again and thought I would bring it up to a more positive tone...I would just like to remind everyone that I am what is regarded as the peacemaker in our family and I just want everyone to love each other....

I love you all

Uno...

(Written with no sarcasm intended...)

Zar said...

Mia lo siento pero no puedo decir mucho, para mi uno el peacemaker es marcos? pero por seguro se que cortaste pasto este verano pasado, eso si es verdad guy's para provar que todos aman cortar pasto y son todos tan intensos en su garden para el proximo verano o si tienen post una foto haciendo el trabajo YEA! FUE MUY FUN LEER los comentarios y mia rompiste el recor de comentarios felicidades!

Zar.

marcos alvin said...

best part of this post is this part where a vision of mia is so clear:

"all of a sudden I was seeing visions of the cows pushing through the fence and making my quiet mowing experience into my own private running of the bulls"

...priceless because of the detail but also because i know mia and i can literally see her looking behind her back every two minutes while she mowed out of fear of the cows...

i've been there sister and its not a nice place to be...

great post!

Wendy said...

p.s. Thanks for adding me to your blog! I feel loved.
W.