"Mow Town"

After several days of cool, rainy weather, today started off with sunshine and brilliant blue skies. I still get excited about clear morning skies here in Maryland, after living through 17 years of "May Gray" and "June Gloom" in San Diego. As nice as San Diego weather can be, for two to three months of the year, San Diegans endure gray, overcast skies until late morning or even into early afternoon - the result of fog banks and mist rolling in over the city from the ocean. Eventually the sun breaks through the fog and sunshine prevails for the remainder of the day. But San Diego mornings are gloomy. We've been living here almost two years now, and morning sunshine in spring is just another reason to love our new abode.

I decided to take advantage of the mild weather to saddle up the John Deere. We live on two acres, much of it grass. Since I learned how to operate the riding mower, I'm usually the primary mower. I enjoy the zen of mowing, even though it still takes 3+ hours to complete the job. The front lawn is a wide open hill, then interspersed with young trees, then maneuvers between huge hardwoods and gardens, around the house, and finally beside the veggie garden and patio.

I use the time alone on the mower to enjoy the scenery, the birds, the cloud patterns, and especially the wonderful, fresh smell of newly cut grass. It's a great time to let my mind wander, make plans, or organize my thoughts. There's usually a lot of chatter going on in there - songs, conversations, lists, you name it - to keep me entertained, so I'm never bored. After living in urban areas nearly all my life, I find living in an open, rural environment very peaceful. Should have moved to the country long ago.