Solving My Own Problem in an Environmentally Friendly Way

Yesterday, I called the local home renovation centre and asked if they had any reel lawn mowers. “You know,” I said, “the kind without an electric or gasoline motor.”

“Oh,” said the woman on the other end of the line, “you mean you want one with a diesel engine.”

No, actually, what I meant was that I wanted one with no engine at all. I wanted the kind everyone used to have. Mechanical moving parts. A handle, two wheels, and several twisted blades that turned when the wheels turned. The design hasn’t changed much over the last century.

“Let me check and see what we have. It’s kind of late in the season. We might be all sold out.”

After a few minutes, her voice came back on the line. “We have one.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll come down and have a look.”

It was just what I was looking for. The handle and frame were turquoise and the blades were orange. A Gardena brand. Hmm . . . at $289 plus tax, the price seemed a bit steep for the end of the season and no motor. I’d have to think about it.

I called my son-in-law to see if he could stop by on his way home from work and have a look at it. He knows about all things mechanical. He was busy but said that he thought my next-door neighbour used to have a push mower.

“Maybe you could try before you buy," he said. "Just ask. Maybe they’ll let you try theirs out.”

Good advice, as usual. Today, I saw my neighbour out tending her beautiful flowers in her yard, so I took the opportunity and popped over. I explained my situation and she said, “Sure.”

She opened her garden shed and there was . . . the exact same model as the one I had just seen for $289 (plus tax!).

“If you want, I’ll even sell it to you,” she said.

That was music to my ears! Back over to my side of the fence. Up and down in rows not-quite-straight. The grass was actually a bit too long—I had let it go for too many weeks without a trim—and so in some places, the mower didn’t exactly cut, more like just mashed the grass down. But back and forth a few times in the same spot solved the problem. I was out there in the front and back yard for more than an hour. These mowers don’t have a handy bag that catches all the grass, so raking is necessary unless you want to go au naturel and leave the clippings. Because the grass was so long, I decided to rake this time.

I knocked on my neighbour’s door. “The good points are: I can work it, but I’m not crazy about yard work, but it’s good exercise and I can do it myself. I don’t have to fiddle with it to start it or mess around with gasoline. How much do you want for it?”

I held my breath. Any amount less than $289 would sound good to me. She had used it for about six years, she told me, but really, what can go wrong with this type of mower?

“How does fifty dollars sound?”

More music! I had been prepared in my mind for two, three times as much! I was delighted!

“I’ll run to the bank and get you the money right now,” I said.

“Well, take it easy for a bit and cool down,” she said.

I must have been working harder than I thought. My car keys were in my pocket. I opened the garage door. Having conquered the mower, I hauled out my bike. Cheap to run and provides some exercise. Just like my new lawn mower!