Not that it's a guy thing, mind you, ...

FacebookXPinterestEmailEmailEmailShare

Sometimes, I don't know how my wife and I got things done while we were both on active duty.  The only remembrances of "honey-do's" is the blur the weekends always seemed to be.  Now, as The Boss works during the days, I really try to knock out as much as possible so that the weekends are for whatever she wants or needs to get done. 


Call me crazy (although I prefer Toad), the smell of freshly mown grass, the feel of the earth, and the slight tingle of a sunburn on my neck beckon me this time of year -- and honestly I look forward to it.  Ah yes, Springtime ... trees are budding, bulbs are pushing through the recently mulched beds and ... I've got the smell of high-test gasoline and "30-weight" oil on my hands.  Now into my 3rd Springtime since leaving the Force, I've realized that not everyone has this same ... enthusiasm ... for lawn work.  Imagine that?   


Why, or how, I don't know.  But the knack for making small mechanical engines "work" was passed to me by my Dad I suppose, it's in my genes. Each fall I tear down and store all of my lawn machines and then with the warmth of the Spring sunbeams, I put it back to gather with the goal of having "it" start, on the first pull.  I'm about 50-percent, I'd say.  Which is a great percentage rate I realized, after listening-in at the end of year spouses meetings. In the before-time, I hadn't stopped to think about the trouble this time of year posed for those folks whose milspouse was away/deployed/geo-separated, etc. when it came to maintaining "the damn mower."


Now, it's an added goal of mine to find those two or three or four folks whose mower sat all season with gas in the tank and 12 year old oil in the sump.  I bring in my gear and we attempt a Cardiac Repair of their Briggs & Straton.  Gentlemen (I know you're out there), this isn't necessarily a guy thing but ... after you get your equip up and running  (no, not THAT equipment you heathen), look around you.  Make some phone calls to the spouses-grapevine, see if someone needs your help in getting their gear going.  It's a little thing for you -- but it could be a finger-saver to them.  They say a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one, ... well I believe it doesn't hold a candle to the dangers of a poorly maintained gas powered, rotating metal blade. 


Okay -- get up from the PC and grab your Spouses Directory -- make that call.  Then let's go grab a sunbeam and the 30-weight oil, and help one of our compadre-spouses with their lawn equipment.  O&O, MaintenanceToadOne


Story Continues
SpouseBuzz

Military Spouse Videos

View more