tackling the green monster

"Jealousy? Envy?"

No, poison ivy and the rye grass that's towering in my yard.

"You really think you're up to that?"

Well, I waited until it was almost 7 PM. That's when I've noticed a little cooling breeze sweeping through the area. The back yard was almost all in the shade, too. Plus, I've been feeling cooped up and I thought the physical exertion would do me good.

"I see. And did it occur to you to contact your cardio doc before that cardio workout?"

Honestly, I don't think anyone would have termed it such. I had to clear the poison ivy blocking the back door first. That's it, mounded on the deck. Then, I walked at a slow, even pace, pushing the lawnmower through the 18" high rye, and kept close tabs on how I felt. If not for me having to stop twice to clean out the mower blades, I think I would have been fine for a longer period. That bending over for more than a minute really gets me.

"And just how long did you work in the yard?"

I was good for about thirty minutes, until that second blade cleaning. Then I came inside and sat, drinking the glass of ice water I already had waiting for me. That was a good thought, by the way, to have it already set up. I probably sat for about ten minutes. Then I made another glass of ice water and went back to the yard.

"Please tell me you weren't trying to knock it out in one evening."

No, no, I'm not that crazy. I got in another fifteen minutes before the battery died. I guess you could say that was the universe looking out for me via the Ryobi.

"And so you're planning to hit it again tomorrow?"

I am. Gotta get it done before any more rain comes and adds to the growth. As it is, the grass was very wet, even after several days with no rain. I mowed in diagonal rows again, as I did last summer, to allow more air circulation. I don't know that one day's lapse will be enough to dry out that undergrowth, but I have baseball on Wednesday and ACS on Thursday.

"Well, be careful to not overexert yourself. You've come a long way in your recovery and you don't want to slide backwards."

Heard. You better believe I'm listening to my body with both ears. I even think I'm beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel, but it's still a ways off.

"Slow and steady, that's the way you do it."

Yes, ma'am.