Good Wrap

Weeds grow really fast, no more than 2 weeks, the lawn needs a haircut. I cut with a big shear, it’s tiring and time-consuming. I treat it as exercise. However, I’ll be away and want to do a major cleanup prior. I asked several friends who live close by but neither has a lawn mower.

I was cutting weeds in my yard on Sunday. A neighbor came over introducing himself as Bob* and suggested that I shall use a weed wacker. What is weed wacker? I need to spray something on the lawn? Clearly, I had no clue what he referred to. He said he would show me. He went back to his house, across the street, to get the tool. It looks like a lighter version of vacuum, with a fan-like cover on the head. He asked if I have an extension cord, No, I answered ‘but I can buy one’. He said he doesn’t use it and lent it to me; it should work by pressing the button…I was distracted by the funky tool and how to get a power cord, his words went from left to eight ear and out. Well, how difficult it could be, I can figure it out.

I went back to finish up what I was doing before going to get extension cord…John* , next door neighbor passed by, smiled and said ‘you’re working hard…’, oh, yes, I asked if he by chance has an extension cord that I could try with the new tool. He said yes and went back to his house to get it. I plug in the unit and said to him, ‘first time to use this, I was told to press the button and hold?’ He took over the unit, made the cord a loop over the handle so it wouldn’t fall first then pressed a button and hold the handle, the machine started running.  He cut a section of the lawn to show me, got it, thank you.

I grabbed the machine, a bit heavy yet the weeds fell quickly. Can’t believe how 2 spinning strings did – magic – much faster than hand cut, even with a large shear. Thanks for bob coming to rescue me. I trimmed a smaller section and moved on to the bigger section. Unfortunately machine stopped, I don’t see or smell anything different. Power is on. What happened? I thought maybe the tool needed a break. I went to do some cleanup and came back to try again. Still nothing. I went back to bob. He didn’t know what to do, either. I’m sorry and offered to buy him a replacement, he said, no worry. He didn’t use it anyway. I thank him as well as the other neighbor and returned the extension cord. I then went online ordering a weed wacker to arrive in a few days. I got a battery-operated unit, no need extension cord.

This morning, I saw a landscaping truck parking in front of my house and 2 guys came out with lawn mover and weed wacker. They went next door and started working on neighbor’s yard. Perfect timing! I went out talking to the guys. I explained that I’ve been maintaining both yards though what’s between us is mostly neighbor’s land. I asked if they could mow both as the machine broke (the grass is a bit longer than usual) and I’m waiting for the new tool to arrive. The guy said yes.

Looking back, I thought that if I knew the weed wacker sooner, how much time and efforts I could save over the past few months yet it’s better later than never,  gardening as exercise wasn’t bad. I’m glad to learn new things, as the old Chinese saying, {good work requires sharp tool}. Thanks to the ‘angles’ who showed and supported me and perfect timing for a major cut.

Everything will be good in the end. If it’s not good, it’s not the end!

* name change to protect people’s privacy