Last summer I invested in a "green" mowing machine. By that I mean I went out and spent money on a brand new mower. This one is the old fashioned kind called a reel blade push mower. I have a small yard and I never have liked the sound of a mowing machine so I figured I would make the change. Now with the price of gas I'm glad I did. I still have the small gas powered mower but I don't think I will ever use it again.



I'm crazy about my reel mower. I can mow the yard in flip flops with out worries of losing a foot. Every time I mow, I also get exercise. When I'm mowing it's so quiet I can hear the birds. In fact, when I was mowing the front yard today, a nice fat robin sat down on the yard not five feet from me. My mower didn't bother that bird at all.

I feel good about mowing without the use of fossil fuel, without polluting the air with another small gas engine. I wish all of my neighbors would switch to reel mowers and cut down on the noise pollution in the neighborhood.

I've found that I'm much more aware of what I am mowing when I'm mowing by my own power and in quiet. Today I saw a small black toad. I never would have noticed it with the roar and speed of a power mower. In fact, I probably would have run right over the little toad with that gas mower. Today I saw the tiny toad trying to hop out of the way and I just stood still in the quiet for a few moments while the little toad got its self off to a safer place. I noticed big daddy long legs and a flutter of grass hoppers, all easily escaping my slow mower.

I noticed the dampness of the grass and thought of last night's rain, my damp basement and the prediction of more to come. I noticed the blooms in my garden that had started to fade and the bits of wood chips scattered about by animals. I was easily able to avoid a small contingent of toadstools that had popped up over night, again thinking that with a fast powerful gas mower, I might not have even noticed them.