Chilly, blue-skied morning...or nearly noon.

Out on the island, and the hedge and the grass all have a few remnants of rime. Must have been downright chilly last night. And kitty, turning 11 years old this year, is more interested in watching the action from the windowsill with the heater under it than he is being out in it himself. He goes outside for 2-3 minutes at a time, but then his paws are cold and he'd rather come in now, thank you!

The house is on a hill, so from the windowsill, he has a good view of anything that moves in the yard. Well, I used to call it a yard. I may again, if I get a chance to mow it before it turns even more wild. I like mowing the lawn. It's a chore Grandpa assigned to me when I was about 12, and he was very picky about how it should be done; straight lines, overlap the last row just so so that there is no escaping line of unmowed grass, perfection was what was expected, and nothing less would do. Now that I have my own lawn savanna, I am less worried about mowing in exact straight lines. I follow the edges of the yard and work my way in, enjoying the random shapes that get ever narrower as I mow. I am still picky about those stripes of unmowed grass, though, I find, and those occur frequently when Lennart mows. So we have a deal. He cleans the kitchen, I mow the lawn veld. This works out nicely for him, since he's usually done in under an hour (for a really clean kitchen!) and I'm still mowing. Did I mention it's a huge lawn grassland wilderness? On a slope? And full of lumps!

In any case, I find mowing to be really cathartic. As I mow, I have time to think about all kinds of things, and I'm maneuvering this heavy lawnmower, and in the end, I get that nice satisfactory feeling of having accomplished something...even though it's a neverending struggle. (It's like laundry, another favorite task.) I must be yearning for spring, so I can get out there again!

It might not be popular or environmentally friendly to have lawns these days, and well, I probably wouldn't have landscaped like this had it been my choice in the first place, but it's here, and it looks a right mess when it's not mowed, so it MUST be done, and at least I get a little personal therapy now and then whilst I mow.

The cat, of course, hates it and hides in a cupboard the whole time.