the One with the Riding Lawn Mower

Here's the one about the riding lawn mower.

(I love mowing the grass.  It is my favorite chore.)


I go out in the morning all ready to mow the lawn
and get it done before it gets too hot and before
I take a shower.  So I get on my mower after I scooted the

cat off the seat.  I start my mower and drive between two

vehicles where it is parked under the carport.  I head on

out onto the lawn and put the mower in gear.  Then I 

decide to go straight to the far end of the yard and make

a path around the perimeter first.  When I got to the end

of my driveway I decided to mow the ditch by house.  So

down the road I go.  It is a county road.  I do this all the

time so I'm not concerned about any problems.  I always

look both ways to make sure there are no cars coming.  I

can see three-quarters of a mile one way and one-quarter of

a mile the other.  No cars.  I get to the end of the distance

I want to mow in the ditch and turn my mower around in 

the road.  Oh my gosh!  It dies.  I am in the middle of the

oncoming lane!  Down a hill from traffic!  which no one 

could see before they came to me.  I panic for an instant and

my heart is racing.  I jump off the mower and go to the rear

of it where you pull out a lever that puts it in neutral gear

so you can push it.  I push it backwards on to the grass

in the ditch which if a car flies over the hill (and they do!)

would still be dangerous.  I can't leave it there and there

is no one at home to help me.  So I got back on it and

try to start it.  It won't start.  So I try one more time

and it starts.  I put it into gear again and head toward

my yard and just barely make it into the yard off the

road when it dies again.  Out of gas and it will not start

again.  I am so thankful that I got it out of the road.

I certainly did not want to make someone have an

accident or be on the mower when one happened.  What

a relief!  

Here is the hill where I drove the lawn mower down.

It is one long hill and our driveway and yard are at the

top of it.  There are several hills on this road and cars

come sailing by.  The speed limit is 45 mph but they

drive 60 mph or more sometimes.

I am taking this picture from where I was when the lawn

mower died.  This doesn't look like downhill much in this

picture but just after that mailbox it drops off quickly down

another hill. (You can enlarge the picture and it looks more

dramatic.)  We have had people collide in the middle of

the night on this hill because they don't stay on their side

of the road.  Hopefully, I have learned my lesson to always

check the gas tank before mowing.