The weather on Saturday was nice, so Anne and I spent most of the day outside in the sun. In the morning, Anne and I went our separate ways. She went walking with Joanie and I mowed the lawn. In the afternoon, Anne and I went biking together. It is the evening now. The clouds have rolled in and it is supposed to rain, again. As I write this post, I’m also listening to the radio, public radio; Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion is on. Garrison is broadcasting just a few miles from here, in midtown, at the Fabulous Fox.

Let’s go back now, back to this morning, back to mowing. When it comes to mowing the lawn, I am as green as can be. No gas-powered, EPA regulated, but still polluting mower for me. My mower is 100% Marquis powered. It is a reel mower, a real man’s mower. Unfortunately, the old Marquis did not feel up to tackling the first cutting of the spring grass this year, so he caved. He went to Home Depot. His cravenness was such that if the Depot didn’t have what he wanted, he was considering Wal-Mart. How could he have sunk so Lowe’s?

You see folks the reel mower works fine, but you have to keep up with the grass. If you let the grass get ahead of you, even a little, the reel mower and alas I too, just can’t hack it. So for the last few years I have come to dread the first cutting of the spring. Our neighbor across the street caved this year and hired a lawn service. Earlier this week, after they had finished her lawn, I considered approaching the workers for a little cutting on the side. Instead, on Saturday, I doubled down and bought an electric corded mower. No battery in the landfill for me. As a durable goods purchase, it earned a photo in this blog. I brought it home, assembled it and then mowed the lawn. After all this buildup, in the end there was no drama, just a nicely trimmed yard.

Anne and Joanie went to downtown Maplewood for a coffee crawl. This time of year, the business district holds an open house with plenty of coffee. Anne took the photo of the Frank Lloyd Wright like shadows at Schlafly’s Bottleworks.

Anne came home just after I finished with the lawn. We quickly (for us) launched and headed towards the Park. We passed through the Park and headed on towards South Grand. We toured Tower Grove Park, where the kickball season has kicked off. We ate lunch at The Vine, a Mediterranean café and hookah lounge. We had hummus with fresh baked pitas and fattoush, a delicious salad dish. We got 20 miles on the bikes and maybe a wee bit of sunburn.