Many couples about our age (late 50’s, early 60’s) are contemplating condo life, the travails of home ownership not meshing with their view of what retirement, or semi-retirement, should be about.
Well, notwithstanding my occasional lustings for a potted plant on a deck, rather than ten acres of natural Oregon land in the lower reaches of the south Salem hills, we’re following the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” adage.
And believe me, maintaining our tree, brush, and grass filled property (with enough remaining poison oak and blackberry vines to keep my wife’s sprayer busy) sometimes feels like dying, one step removed.
Yet, not so strangely, delightfully so.
Because there’s a joy in exerting yourself to almost your limit. This can be done at an athletic club, jogging trail, bicycle ride, or what not, but I find that hard work like field mowing – my current preoccupation – possesses a sweaty satisfaction lacking in other sorts of activities.
When people trade the complexities of a house and yard (or house and acreage) for the simplicity of a condo, they’re gaining in some respects but losing in others.
One thing they’re missing (and I really would miss my annual field mowing, even though I love to complain about it) is physical exercise. Whether minimal with weeding flower beds, or maximal with the exertion needed to handle my walk-behind DR Field and Brush Mower in tall grass on bumpy sloping ground, home chores help keep an aging body healthy.
I remind myself of this when I’m soaked with perspiration and covered with grass clippings after tackling the areas of our land that need mowing for fire prevention and aesthetic reasons.
Here’s a before photo, a field that’s on my to-do list for next week.
And here’s an after photo that shows some of my weekend work (along with a dog sniffing out field mice, who, I strongly suspect, aren’t big fans of my mowing).
When I finish a workout at the athletic club, I’m not able to stand back and admire what I accomplished. Because, nothing was, other than exercising. But after every field is cut, I love to put the DR mower on idle, take some sips of water, gaze at where I’ve been working, and think… beautiful.
There’s a lot to like about a potted plant on a condo deck. It’s just not the same as an acre or two of freshly cut grass. The sweat-soaked t-shirt I’ve got drying outside testifies to that.
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You said that well and I agree totally. I have had friends who will pay someone to do their gardening and go to a gym to work out. Say what!? We will stay with our farm as long as we can. I used to say I wanted to be an old woman chopping wood and keel over rather than live on and on in a care center; but although saying that sounds good, I don’t chop wood well. I am a great stacker though!
Have you thought about how you are contributing to global warming by mowing your acreage with a CO2 spewing machine? Mowers are much worse than cars in this respect. I read somewhere that a lawn mower spews more CO2 in one hour than three cars going 60 miles. If we were serious about global warming we would outlaw gas mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers, etc. That day will come and perhaps sooner than you might think. If you lived in a condo in a dense urban area, preferably without a car, you would probably be getting more exercise in your normal day’s activities than you are getting now.
Amecameca, I seriously doubt it. The field mowing I did today was hugely aerobic and muscle taxing — way more than riding a bike or walking.
But you do make a good point. I’ve heard that people in New York City have one of the lowest carbon footprints, because the population density is so high and energy use so efficient.
We drive two hybrid cars (Prius and Highlander), so we do our best to mitigate our country lifestyle. But a condo would be easier on the environment in some ways. We have, though, planted many trees on our ten acres and have reclaimed much of it from invasive blackberried, leaving it as natural as possible for human and wildlife enjoyment.
AAA-HAA!!!!!!
I always suspected that you people over there on Liberty Rd are the primary cause of global warming. Now I know.
You and your tractor; dont you feel guilty?
GUILTY!!!!
Well while you are feeling guilty:
Do you realize that everytime you pass gas you contribute to the melting glaciars?
Just like you, I ran my tractor all day, and ate some refried beans for lunch.
But unlike “Them” over the hill on Liberty, us up on Skyline; our global warming doesn’t stink.
😉
“We drive two hybrid cars (Prius and Highlander), so we do our best to mitigate our country lifestyle.”
Dig this: Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage….
http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=14582
I bought one of these. http://www.scythesupply.com/
It’s fun to use. Excellent exercise and quiet too. When we run out of gas you will need one.
Get it now while supplies last.
Condor, you rule! Two people living on 10 acres in the country who aren’t working to feed the rest of us is a lifestyle that is highly questionable in the 21st century, even if they do drive hybrids (why do you need two?).
Years ago I heard a speaker on the wastefulness of lawns. We had extensive ones at that time around our farmhouse and I didn’t find any of them pretty. I liked nature as it created things but we had the lawns, what to do. We converted them back (with some rented equipment) into more natural habitats. Then a few years ago, when the coyotes were attacking the sheep too regularly in the main pastures, I got the idea of letting them have the run of our place at night. They go out with the cows during the day but at night, they have around the house (everything I have not fenced to protect flowers or vegetables which already were fenced as the deer ate those without fences anyway). Sheep utilize all the fodder (the gardens too if the gate gets left open) and we have the pleasure of their company close to the house where we know if something went wrong much faster– when it didn’t also.
Are those sweet gum trees that I see in the picture? We have those in LA (Lower Alabama) also. Did you bushog or use a DR Field and Brush Mower?
Blue Sky, those are big leaf maples that my wife planted. They’re native to our part of Oregon.
I use a DR Field and Brush mower. I’ve had three of them over the years. Got this one a year or two ago. It’s the best one yet, though I’m not sure a woman or small man could muscle it around. Open fields are fairly easy, but on our property there are lots of trees and such that I have to maneuver around, and uneven ground.
It’s a lot of work. But a heck of a lot easier than any other way of cutting the grass/brush that I can think of. A ride on mover wouldn’t work, and a weed eater (even with a metal blade) would take forever to do the work, and be much more strenuous.