Now that I've been a homeowner for a few years I've learned a little about how to tend to the lawn.
I'm no expert by any means as I've determined my lawn will never look immaculate and I'm fine with "treading water" in the summer so to speak to get done what needs to get done. I'm not willing to devote more than a couple of hours a week on my lawn and that seems like enough for me.
As long as the boss doesn't complain about how it looks, I get to skate by on doing near the bare minimum.
I think I get my lack of caring about my lawn from my parents. They wait until it starts looking like the pre-civilization prairie before they mow their lawn.
They even have a neighbor who reminds them their grass is getting high, as if they couldn't tell themselves.
I tend to not let it get that high where I need to get hints from the neighbors, but a few times I've been close to almost losing my family in the vegetation.
But lawn care is not just about mowing every week or so, there are weeds that like to crop up at places the mower can't get to. I decided this year I could no longer take on the battle against the weeds myself and broke down and bought some weed killer.
It works pretty well although I wish it would kill the weeds and have them disintegrate instead of turning them into a brown plant, then regenerating into green ones weeks down the road. Of course, the brown weeds do match my grass as we have gone through a couple of dry spells this summer.
I'm so glad I live in the Midwest because I would hate year-round lawn and weed duties. There's at least one thing that's good about the cold weather - I don't have to break out the mower.
I think my mower hates me lately anyway since I subject it to scorching heat and dozens of twigs. I mowed one day when the heat index was well over 100 degrees and had to take a few water breaks. I didn't even think maybe I should give the mower a break too.
It doesn't start quite as easy at it used to and I think it's essentially telling me "take care of me better and I'll make it easier on you."
Am I the only one who has imaginary conversations with my lawn mower?
As the dryness continues in recent days, the mower has had time to rest. But in a few days we'll be back together.
Now we just have to work on getting along better. Just a couple of more months and we can "break up" for the year. Then I start seeing the leaf blower on a regular basis, who seems just as ornery.
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Reporter Andrew Potter is a Tuesday columnist for the Times-Republican. The views expressed in this column are personal views of the writer and don't necessarily reflect the views of the T-R. Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com