First let’s get one thing clear: I like cutting the lawn; I dislike HAVING to cut the lawn. See the distinction here? OK, now we can move on.
I like mowing the lawn. It feels good. I would say cathartic. Mowing a lawn allows time to think if you want or to think about nothing. I can mow a lawn almost on auto-pilot and allow my head a rest. Somehow the minor mental task of mowing is just enough to keep the brain awake, but not enough to feel like work. Think: keeping a pilot light going.
When I used to work at the golf course, I was often tasked with mowing the rough. For non-golfers that is the longer grass off to the sides of the fairways. It was supposed to be longer, but not shaggy. To mow this I rode on a largish flat-deck mower back and forth navigating around trees, ponds, squirrels and golfers. Once you get used to it, you could shut your brain off and mentally nap. Just leave enough juice going to perform the task at hand.
Alternately you could use that unused processing power to think about anything you wanted. I would often sing in my head. I would sing songs and lyrics from music I would listen to. I would figure out the lyrics… yep that sounds right! Sometimes I would even get the lyrics right! Sometimes I would have day-dreams. Let’s not go into details on what, but they were good. Sometimes I would solve the world’s problems.
I get a small portion of that mowing my own lawn.
After mowing the lawn I’m covered in grass. Mostly this is from the edge-trimmer. None the less, I have grass juice and detritus on my clothes, on my skin, in my hair. There must be some kind of medicinal use for this because it is like a soothing balm or salve. The texture of my skin changes and the feel of my hair with grass clippings in it is something that just feels good. Showering off the green confetti is both a pleasure and a disappointment. Washing away this cologne of lawn is an unfortunate necessity. My allergies would not allow me to keep it, and tracking grass clippings through the house is not very good either.
But before long, the grass will need trimming again. Or maybe, someone will ask for help mowing their lawn. It won’t be long until I can again have a mental break.
And now, a cute commercial about mowing the lawn: