Page 41 - Self Talk

the same family. She never told us what the number was, maybe she didn't know herself, but we worked in the yard like it was destined to be famous, like a fairway at Pebble Beach.
Not a day went by that we didn't work in that yard. Mother always did the mowing with her brand new hand mower. We never seemed to have money, but we had enough to buy the very best lawn mower. She always mowed twice in case a few stubborn blades of grass survived her first pass. She often changed her mowing pattern, perhaps to catch the neighbors off guard, but probably to show off her creativity, too. On lazier days we’d see perfectly aligned horizontal rows. But on most days she'd surprise us with perpendicular, triangular or box-like patterns. She even mowed circles once. I liked those best, but they didn't seem up to her standards.