Sunday, August 8, 2010

How the work gets done

I mowed the lawn today and May showed up right behind me with the rake. When we finished, she asked what to do with all the piles of grass clippings she had made. I told her I would bring the yard waste sack. I walked the mower back to the garage and was surprised to find her right behind me, in the garage I had recently swept clean, holding a rake-load of fresh green grass that was falling between the tines at a distressing rate. "Get out of this garage with that," I shouted. "Out, out out!" I grabbed the yard waste sack, carried it to the back yard, and showed her how to put the grass in it. Then I went to the front yard to clip around the tree. She showed up a few minutes later, empty-handed. "Where's your rake?" I asked. She didn't know. I told her to go look for it in the back yard and bring it around to the front. She showed up with a shovel and asked me if we should dig up the whole flower bed, or just a little bit. I told her we were raking the yard, but we needed the rake. She left again and came back with the hose, adjusting the nozzle as she got closer to me. "No, no, no, not the hose. Bring the... No, wait, put down the hose and stand right where you are." I walked around the house and brought back the rake. She raked all the clippings onto the sidewalk, which would now have to be swept after we put the larger pieces in the sack.

This is how we do everything.