It's not how fast you mow!

Some weeks ago I was half-listening to a commercial on television about a certain well-known brand of riding lawnmower. They were using the slogan, "It's Not How Fast You Mow, It's How You Mow Fast!" I confess to liking the first part of the slogan better than I liked the last part of it. I'd rather just go with the part, which says, "It's Not How Fast You Mow," and cut back on all the rush, rush, rush associated with mowing in a big hurry.

Of course, if you have a huge lawn to mow, and you have only a limited time to get it done, then there is not much choice other than looking for some speed. Maybe one needs a faster, more powerful mower, maybe one needs one with a bigger, wider cutting deck. Or, ultimately, maybe one needs to cut back on the size of the area to be mowed. Mowing can get to be a major enterprise.

To some people, mowing the lawn is something to get done and out of the way, so they can get on to better, more interesting things. To others, though, mowing is a kind of special time, time to enjoy being outside, time to pay attention to nature, time to enjoy a change of pace from the usual grind, and time to enjoy seeing the lawn going from ragged to trim and neat.

To some people, certain work can be as refreshing and enjoyable as play, or other pursuits more commonly considered as recreation. To some, even a task like lawn mowing is recreative, relaxing and restorative. When I am working, I tend to be unhurried, or try to be, I try for patience, a steady manageable pace, trying to be attentive to things getting done as well as possible. Even some old time farmers, who you might think were loaded down with plain hard work that some would consider drudgery, were concerned to do their thing well. The farmer who plowed the field was proud of his straight rows, of his even furrows. The gardener was proud of how trim his garden patch looked, and how free of weeds were his rows. Work is not just something to get done with and to get away from, it is creativity to express and an experience to fulfill.

Over my lifetime, the methods of mowing have changed quite a lot!

During my early years, money was scarce. While we weren't really poor, we didn't have much money. So we did things like keeping our car for 10 years or so, and then trading it in for a new used car. We didn't have a power mower. Very few people we knew had power mowers. Gasoline was scarce during the World War II years, and we didn't need to be burning more than necessary. Our lawnmower was a reel-type push mower, powered by the person who pushed it.

The cutting reel, which was turned by gears driven by the wheels gripping the ground, had four spiral curving blades designed for shearing off the grass as the blades passed over a stationary straight blade at the bottom. The reel was only 16 inches or so wide, so one didn't cut a very wide swath. But it was a quality cut, nicer than most rotary mowers are capable of, better than even most of today's expensive mowers. Of course if one is used to riding while cutting a 52-inch swath, the idea of man-powering a 16-inch swath may not sound too exhilarating.

We also used some other old-fashioned hand tools around the garden and lawn. One was the small hand sickle. This was an ancient mowing tool that goes back in biblical times. Ancient workers would harvest their wheat by grabbing a bunch with one hand while whacking off the stems near the ground. After cutting several bunches, they would put them together and tie them into a bundle.

There are still situations where a hand sickle is handy for cutting small patches of grass, spots which may be inaccessible to a larger mower, or too close to plants that might easily be damaged. We also often used an old-fashioned scythe. A scythe is a burlier and stronger cutter, used to cut heavy weeds, or even small saplings. The blade is mounted cross ways to the handle. One swings the scythe by gripping the long handle with two hands and swinging it by twisting the body. You do want to watch it that you don't swing it in the direction of someone's leg.

Living on a farm in the old days obviously involved some pretty demanding physical work. But I'm convinced that the people back then were not just suffering through.

I believe that many were finding very real satisfactions in their labors, enjoying the flowers that graced their lawns and houses, anticipating the delicious food they saw growing in the gardens and fields, and finding fulfillment in a job well done!

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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.