Gone

When I bought my house in the winter of 1999, the previous owner left a few things in it. The table I had admired while I was looking at the house was there - we use it to this day. A tan rocker/recliner was in the living room. An old fake Christmas tree was in the basement. And an old Cub Cadet riding lawn mower was in the garage.

In the years since I've moved in, the tree has stayed in the basement, the chair has been used and abused by the dogs and exiled to the garage, the table is still in use, and the lawn mower got used for a few years before it broke down and I finally had the money to buy a new one.

The other things haven't been any trouble (although the recliner is going to be making a trip to the dump someday), but that damn mower has been like a weight around my neck. Or rather, a weight in the garage. A large, yellow, immovable weight, sitting there taking up valuable space. I had a way of getting rid of it last year - the college where I work would have taken it and recycled it. But we couldn't get it out of the garage - it was too heavy to lift into a truck bed (mowers used to be made of solid steel, apparently - this thing was like a tank).

I thought I was stuck with it forever.

This year my new(er) mower needed some work before it was ready to start being used. So I took it to my friendly neighborhood small engine repair guy, who fixed it up for me. I mentioned the old yellow mower to them a couple of times (I might have had some desperation in my voice), telling his wife that if he wanted it to use for parts, or to fix up and sell, he could have it! For free! Just get it out of my garage! I didn't think they were going to bite. But at the last minute yesterday, they did.

Last night they backed their truck and trailer into my driveway, unloaded my new(er), fully functioning mower, loaded up the heavy heap, and took it away. I was never so glad to see anything leave my house.

The empty space in the garage looks so good. The weight is gone.

Yay!!