After waking up at 2:30, then 3:30, then getting up at 4:30, it became quite apparent that I was pretty sore from my grand fishing trip. I took an extra Tylenol, though, and steeled myself for the task ahead for the day … mowing the grass. May as well get these cranky muscles moving again.
Well, I strapped on my new pink Minecraft glasses and dove in, and the muscles held up just fine. But I ran into a few difficulties. The biggest one involved the lawn mower. I filled it with gas as per usual. I rolled it out to the yard, as per usual. I pulled on the famous EZ start rope, as per usual. And the rope … snapped off in my hand. As per … nope. That one never happened before.
Well, of course our first thought was, “It’s time for a new lawn mower.” And it certainly is. But that didn’t solve the immediate problem. After all, I had just filled it with gas. I can’t toss it until we get rid of that. So I did what any other overly confident homeowner would do. I took it apart. Well, I started to.
Chris brought me a screwdriver. Nope. This one needs to be a star screwdriver. Fine. I went to the garage and got one. Screws came out easy enough. Moved to the next set. Nope. These are bolts. Need a wrench. Back to the garage and the trusty tool kit. Again, these came out easy enough. And the part finally popped off. Only to reveal that the broken rope was wrapped around in a circle that could only be accessed by … a flathead screwdriver. Deep breath. And before heading off to the tool kit again, I assessed the situation for any other tool that might possibly, remotely be used as a next step. I finally settled on a pair of pliers just to make sure.
And then the final attack commenced. Oh, there were no flat head screws. I just needed the screwdriver to reach inside the tiny crack in the mechanism to force a piece of the rope out. Believe it or not, it worked. I was able to snag it and tie it to the piece of rope that popped off in my hands. Then began the painstaking task of replacing all the parts with the proper screws. Not sure how long it will last, but hopefully we can get through until we run the rest of the gas out. Time to look for another lawnmower.
Back to the immediate task at hand. I had to stop about half way and drink a bottle of water. Must have gotten too hot. But now the yard is mowed and edged. Chris did the sweeping up of clippings. And my back thanks her … over and over again.
Galatians 6:9 says, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Father, thank you that sometimes the miracles of modern small engine operation can be boiled down to a simple knot. Amen.
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