Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features boys engaged
in the game of Pushball. The game never registered on my ancestors’ radar, so
through a James Joycean stream of consciousness sort of way, I pushed the
limits of my imagination to arrive at this:
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| Mary Eleanor Davis (Slade) about 1947 Love the fringe on those pants! |
I never saw my mother push a lawn mower, but this photo
from her early college days at Shenandoah College and Conservatory in Dayton, Virginia
shows she COULD maintain the yard if she had to.
But she never had to. For better or for worse, that was
my dad’s domain.
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| Fred Slade cutting the grass at 134 Gillis Road June 1969 |
Dressed in his favorite tennis shorts and his dress shoes
and socks, Daddy made quite the fashion statement out on the lawn.
Nevertheless, he was faithful and focused on getting the job done. When it came
to “curb-appeal,” nothing got in his way.
Not even the electric cord.
An electric mower was always much easier to start and
convenient to maintain. You would think. However, Daddy was notorious for
mowing right over the cord. It seems that every week he created drama with what
should have been an ordinary task.
In fact, he was hard on every mower he ever owned. Once
when he was without a mower, he borrowed one and managed to decapitate the
thing when he mowed under the deck.
When Momma became sick in her later years, Daddy took up
pushing the vacuum cleaner. There were some similarities in the task as he
continued to vacuum over the cord and bump the furniture. Eventually the muscle memory of vacuuming
carried over to mowing. Cutting the grass took twice as long as Daddy “vacuumed”
the grass, pushing the mower forward and pulling it back repeatedly in the same
spot rather than mowing in a straight line before making a u-turn to come back
the full length.
It was both funny and frustrating to watch, yet there
was no stopping him, not until he killed his last lawn mower. That is when we made
him hang up his lawn-vacuuming shoes and turn the job over to a professional.
Please push your way over to Sepia Saturday for more
stories and old photos.
© 2016, Wendy Mathias.
All rights reserved.
You had me laughing at this post! That was quite the lawn-mowing-outfit your dad had. I wonder if we embarrass our children with things we do!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a history of mowing and vacuming. He might have done better to keep to a push mower.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post! You had me chuckling all the way. As a little girl my daddy let me 'push' the mower (with his help) & I was still mowing the lawn with that same push mower in my teens. I loved mowing our lawns. Not sure why? They weren't that big for one thing, & I loved the smell of fresh mown grass. I wasn't all that keen on the raking, however. Still, when you wish to attract the attention of a certain neighborhood boy, mowing the front lawn in your shorts is a pretty good way to do it! :)
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! Yeah, Daddy probably owned 10 mowers in his life time. Momma always allotted for a new lawn mower around father's day!
ReplyDeleteCam believes Joel inherited the lawn mower gene. LOL
Got to give your dad credit though for trying to keep up on the lawn maintenance and then later inside :) Those cords can get a bit tangled up at times I think.
ReplyDeletebetty
Delightful. Absolutely delightful. Why not dress shoes and sox with white shorts. Indiviuality.
ReplyDeleteVery funny, love your stream of consciousness here. You could also say, as some people do, that when push came to shove, your Dad was an expert!
ReplyDeleteOh Jo, groan!
DeleteYes, so funny; great memories; I do remember mowing the lawn; from a push push to a little Kubota.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I push mowed for the first ten years of our marriage before the hubby finally bought me a John Deere rising mower. I doubt I could push a mower now if I had too.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had a big heavy push mower like the one in the top photo; no wires, no motor, just muscle power. My brothers were tasked with using that big thing. I'm not sure how they managed it. At least it would be hard for your Dad to break. ha! A fun post to read.
ReplyDeleteMost enjoyable post...chuckling all the way! I had an elec. mower and was so worried that my son would mow over the cord, I did the mowing myself. Never cut the cord.
ReplyDeleteHilarious. From your unusual and clever take on the theme to your account of your father's various lawn mowing antics.
ReplyDeleteAnother LOL story, Wendy! My inheritance from my grandparent's old home includes a vintage 1936 push mower. Sadly my lawn is far too pitted to offer the smooth surface required of a reel lawnmower. For me a lawnmower is a useful exercise machine. Walk, push, lift, and achieve a higher heart rate and finish a necessary chore at the same time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Wendy. I'd never seen a corded lawn mower before. You did bring back memories of my father's father with his push mower. He had a gas mower and a fairly big lawn after retirement, so I think he used the push mower for exercise. He was too fastidious and conscious of appearances to be in public in anything other than slacks and a collared shirt, though, I don't believe he even owned a pair of shorts.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can imagine my dad dressing just like your dad, I never, ever saw him push a lawn mower. He loved to putz around in the yard but he always paid someone to mow the lawn. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteThere’s an art to mowing and some take it to extremes; it seems your Dad saw it as a task to be done and he definitely persevered!
ReplyDeleteThank you for making me smile :)
ReplyDeleteI got to try doing the lawn while dressed like your dad... the being some neighbor will take over in order to "hide" me and prevent ruining property values!
ReplyDeleteFunny you should link vacuuming with that electric mower! My mind had already gone down that route, the minute you mentioned a cord. I was wondering how that might turn out...
ReplyDeleteAt my mom's last home, situated on a hill above a river, she was proud that she could still get out that old push mower and RUN it up the hill. Amazon woman.
I like the way your father dressed while he mowed the lawn. Your nostalgic post made me smile!
ReplyDeleteWhat great photos & stories! I eminence mowing our yard as a child. It was one of my least favorite chores!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog. Did you read my post about the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse? I found out some interesting facts about it. And, it would be neat if our ancestors knew each other way back then!
I love Sepia Saturday and that photo reminds me of when I was a scout and we used to play push ball almost every week. It was a great game and loved it. We've all been there when you're mowing the lawn and it stops because you have gone over the wire. Annoying at the time but funny for everyone else.
ReplyDelete