When first we moved here, the only instrument available for cutting the grass was an old mower my mother and her boyfriend had nursed back to partial health. He, a machinist, had provided an Allen key that kept the engine running once ignited. And so periodically during the summer and early autumn—each week if I was diligent, but more often every two—I would wheel out this wheezing automaton and enlist its help in trimming the grass, usually balancing it on its hind wheels to avoid having to start and stop the rotary blades when they were clogged by too-long or even wet grass.
The Trial at Jove's Oak
The Trial at Jove's Oak
The Trial at Jove's Oak
When first we moved here, the only instrument available for cutting the grass was an old mower my mother and her boyfriend had nursed back to partial health. He, a machinist, had provided an Allen key that kept the engine running once ignited. And so periodically during the summer and early autumn—each week if I was diligent, but more often every two—I would wheel out this wheezing automaton and enlist its help in trimming the grass, usually balancing it on its hind wheels to avoid having to start and stop the rotary blades when they were clogged by too-long or even wet grass.