Mowing the dust

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When I first moved into our house, many years ago, the grass was long and the weeds were prolific. On starting to attack the problem, we were confronted with the dilemma of where to put all the clippings etc. It was decided that we would create a compost pile down by the back fence. We then put in a vegetable garden, and that created even more weeds, so onto the pile they went. After a few short years the compost had grown to an unmanageable size, so we felt that in order to finish tidying up the backyard, we would dispose of the compost by way of a jumbo bin. A working bee was organised and after half a day of toil and sweat, the pile had been transferred from the back of the section to the bin. The last thing to go onto the bin was the wheelbarrow, as it had completed its function and the last load had reduced it to a mangled mess of twisted metal. The truck driver informed us later that week that the load weighed five tonne. Over the next months, while waiting for the grass to grow, the maintenance of the back yard had to continue and as the grass started to grow in the area where the compost was, we started to go over it with the mower. There seemed to be as much dirt as there was grass and now and again, especially when we experienced a dry spell, the mower would create clouds of dust and at times it was so thick that I was hidden from view. At that time we created the saying “mowing the dust”. To this day, each summer when all is dry, I tell people that I am going to mow the dust. They don’t know what I am talking about, but my wife and I always have a good laugh as the saying brings back many memories and good times.

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