Another post about mowing the lawn. Ah well, it is where thinking happens, after a fashion. Though when opportunity comes to put thoughts into black and white, many have already fled. The stick 'em on the brain is getting weak, as a strip of tape that has been pulled loose and re-stuck multiple times.
So here is what remains.
El Toro is back in the barn. Under wraps, awaiting spring and the possibility of new ownership. He served us well. And we are quite grateful.
Now the Trucker has a new Deere. (Yep, one with three e's; the Dear with one e is still firmly in place.) New for us, not new in general. And the previous Deere has gone, to either a restoration process, or provide transplants for other Deeres.
A bit larger, cutting a wider swath, but the real difference is the lack of gears. No more clutching and shifting in one (usually) smooth move. No more hitting the preferred gear, sitting back and riding. This one has three pedals: forward, back, and brake. (And they need continual pressure to perform, as the Passenger found with an abrupt jolt when her foot relaxed on the forward pedal.) All pedals are in the vicinity of the Passenger's right foot.
Which could be a problem. Learning that comes quickly to the mind sometimes gets lost on the journey down to the right foot.
Sooo...what happens when the Passenger looks up to behold a tree in her path, coming on rapidly? She stomps the brake (of the old Deere) and hopes the tree gets out of the way!
The brake of the old Deere happens to be the gas of the new Deere.
Oi. Some days it is nice not to have many close neighbors. And maybe it's just as well the Trucker is enroute to Oregon? Something tells me his concern would lie more with the Deere than the tree, though.
The Deere seems to have survived unscathed. The few scuffs could arguably have been there previously. It appears the tree was more forgiving.
But,
A new curiosity. Who or what are these?
Coming up the tree by the dozens in fluttery consternation after the collision. Flying about, landing on the Passenger at random. Upon closer observation, they appear to be harboring in the mulch around most all the trees on our property. No opportunity to catch one in flight on a photo, but...
...here's one who got smooshed. Its outspread wings show brilliant orange/red. This bears investigating. Sometime soon. When duty doesn't call as loudly as it is calling now.
The Deere is now parked. And the Passenger's right foot and leg ache from holding down the gas pedal. But the ride was (mostly) smooth, its work was efficient, the turning radius was a vast improvement on the old Deere. And the plow blade attachable to its nose for winter use was of great appeal to the Trucker.
The stats? Walk-behind: 5 hours. Old Deere and El Toro: approximately 3.25 hours. New Deere: 1.25 hours. Time for some weeding before calling it a day!
The Passenger does miss using a walk behind though. With larger equipment, attention to detail must be sacrificed to a degree. Guess it is called progress.
Speaking of progress, the Passenger must progress to the next thing.....
