SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Being retired, I like to sleep in. It is one of the few luxuries I afford myself. This morning I was all comfy, cozy in my bed... when I awoke, to the drone of a riding mower outside. The engine rattled and rumbled at an obscene decibel level. Seems my neighbor decided to cut his lawn. How dare his chores interfere with my guilty pleasure. I glanced at the clock. It was 7:45 am. Give me a break. It was way too early, in my book, to be doing work of this magnitude. But, nonetheless… there he was, puttering around…. cutting away, disturbing my beauty rest and slowly driving me crazy. It would take him at least an hour to finish it. I wasn’t sure I could handle the noise for that long. I have treasured the SOUNDS OF SILENCE, long before Simon and Garfunkel, wrote about them. Besides, Mr. Neighbor had already cut his grass on Monday afternoon. And now, early on Thursday morning, here he was, at it again. Surely it hadn’t grown that much in three days time. Why on earth would he cut it again? What is the man’s problem? Then it hit me. He was panicking. Impending rain. The weather forecast called for stormy weather all weekend. So he was cutting ahead of some self imposed deadline. Still seems pretty ridiculous to cut so soon, after, you first did it. Why not wait a full week, like we do? Then the grass will show some real growth. Let those dandelions break the surface exposing their bright yellow buds. Pick them, make some wine. Let the spreading clover invite the honeybees for a tryst. Seriously, kick your shoes off and ENJOY nature, instead of whipping it into shape. I’m going back to sleep. A little R&R never hurt anyone. I’ll cut the grass, when I get to it, and not a second before… rain or shine.