March 02, 2008

I Am Vox, Slayer of Weeds

Yard work - hate it.

No, not, "Gee I wish I didn't have to do this" - I really, really HATE it. Further, I live in the desert, I shouldn't have to do it. I purposely disabled my automatic sprinklers because I think it is silly to have a lawn here; why waste all that water to make something grow - when you are just going to have to mow it when it does?

However, it does seem a shame to kill something that manages to grow here. But when I realized that my backyard was so overgrown with weeds packs of wild great Danes could be wandering in there and I would never know, I decided it was time to do something. I have hired people in the past, but they are remarkably unreliable - and expensive. Oh, and did I mention the size of my backyard? I refer to it as the Ponderosa - my house was built on a corner lot in 1960, back when they still included yards.

So D loaned me his weed whacker (actually, he offered to come over and do it, but when I get him over to work on my house, I will use him in one of the skilled positions, not just heavy lifting). I didn't really have high hopes. Having used a weed eater in the past with less than stellar results, I figured there was no way I was getting through those dense weeds.

I completely underestimated the Toro. That thing went through the thicket like a warm knife through soft butter. Wow. Other than an unfortunate run-in with a previously unseen anthill (boy are those guys cranky) it was smooth sailing. I took out everything in my path. I would love to have left the clover, but it was mixed up in the dandelions - if you are going to hang with a rough crowd, you are going to be in danger.

I also discovered that the weeds had grown so close to my house, and so dense, my drier vent was completely blocked. When I opened it up I found a thick plug of lint that would surely have meant trouble very soon. Oops.

Oddly, when all those weeds are cut down, it looks like I just have a very plush, soft, green lawn.


Posted by Vox at March 2, 2008 12:59 PM | general
Comments

Great post! Thoroughly enjoyed the humor, thanks.

Posted by: onelamb at March 7, 2008 11:45 AM