Return to normal

My father returned J to us, after a three week vacation visiting his grandparents. From the sounds of things, he seems to have had a good time. My folks have mentioned making it a yearly event, since we no longer live within driving distance of them. I'll all for it - that would mean couples only vacations for us, which we enjoy; and bonding time for J with his grandparents.

Dad wanted to help around the house while he was here, which is normal for him. We did some lamp rewiring, and he fixed up my bike for me. He also wanted to mow our lawn while I was at work. When he asked if I would mind, I said "yes", since I figured my mom would not appreciate if he had a heart attack while he was here. You see, our lawn is composed of the thickest grass around which has a vine-like consistency, and it is an intense workout to mow the law since we do not have a self-propelled lawn mower. He assured me that he would only mow the front lawn, and only if he could breathe OK (remember, this is the man who just got out of the hospital a few months ago and has been using oxygen at night to breathe).

So I came home from work to the two strips of the side lawn cut and one line along the back fence. Dad's comment? "That lawn will kill you. I wouldn't mow that lawn ever again if I didn't have a self-propelled lawn mower"