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Gran Mows the Lawn

Gran decided to mow the lawn. It wasn't her job. It was Grandaddy's job. Except Grandaddy had been procrastinating for a couple of weeks and Gran was fed up. So when Grandaddy went to visit his cousin, Gran headed to the shop to get the lawn mower.

Mama saw what was going on. She was not pleased. She told Gran she would mow the law as soon as she finished putting away all the items from her art show over the weekend. Gran was not about to wait. She wanted to get it done before Grandaddy got back home.

There was just one slight problem. Gran couldn't figure out how to crank the lawn mower. Little Guy didn't know how to crank it either. He isn't allowed to do that. He went and got Mama.

Mama made Gran get off the lawn mower. Mama climbed onto the seat, pulled a knob and turned the key. The engine roared to life. Little Guy ran out of the shop and hid under the truck.

Mama waited for Gran to open the gate, then she headed out of the shop and down the bank into the backyard. She put the mower blades down and started to bounce around the yard. Gran yelled at her to stop. Gran wanted to mow the lawn. Mama said she would do it and away she went. Little Guy thought for a minute that Gran was going to run after her.

Instead, she stopped Mama as she made a turn. Gran stomped her foot. "I want to mow the lawn," she said.

"No, I'll do it," Mama told her.

Gran reached for the mower. "Get up," she said. "I want to do it." She held on tight to the handle.

"It's really bumpy," Mama said. "Even I need some velcro to keep from sliding off the seat."

Gran didn't believe her. "Let me do it," she said.

Mama finally shut off the mower and climbed off. Gran climbed on. Except Gran still couldn't get it cranked. Mama started laughing. Gran didn't laugh at all. The lawn mower is one of those where the engine goes dead if you get up off the seat so Mama had to crank it with Gran sitting on the seat. Mama shook her head as Gran headed off.

She did flag Gran down and got her to stop. Gran didn't want to stop. She suspected a trick. Mama never said a word. She just walked around the mower and pulled the button to turn the blades on. She wanted Gran to at least be cutting the grass if she was determined to drive the lawn mower around the yard.

Little Guy wanted to laugh. Mama did too. They waited until Gran turned the corner. They didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Mama went back to the shop and Gran mowed the lawn. Little Guy and Sunshine watched from a safe distance. Gran did a good job but she didn't work as fast as Grandaddy. He treats the lawn mower like a race car and tries to see how fast he can drive it. Grandaddy also does wheelies using the zero-turning handles. Gran didn't do anything fun like that.

Gran finished cutting the grass and hurried to return it to the shop before Grandaddy got home. She stopped Mama one last time. Gran couldn't remember if she needed to back the lawn mower in the shop or drive it straight in. Mama said it needed to be backed in. Twenty minutes later, Gran had it in the shop.

Mama had to wipe her eyes. It was probably the pollen making her eyes water and not the laughter she couldn't hide.

Gran walked a little slowly to the house. Mama told her the yard looked really good. Gran mumbled something about a lot of bumps in the yard. Little Guy doesn't think Gran is going to be mowing the lawn again anytime soon.

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