Published Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:59 AM
Updated Wednesday, May 14, 2008 12:01 PM

 

Watts Line 5/14/08

Got grass? Momma does


So when you ask your mother what she wants for Mother’s Day and she responds, “grass,” it’s enough to stop you in your tracks. Especially when your mom is an 86-year-old bridge-playing, card-carrying Methodist whose claim to fame is a mean peach cobbler.

She’s just not much on change and trying new things.

Put it this way. The furniture at her house is in exactly the same places it was when I was six years old. Even the pictures on the wall are in the same places. But one thing was bothering her.

The lawn. When Daddy was still with us, he worked in the yard nearly every day of his 25-plus years of retirement. And the yard showed it.

But over the last few years the yard has, as momma puts it, gotten away from her. And that is despite the good work of the man who helps her with it.

So when she said she wanted grass for Mother’s Day, she meant it. She wanted a new lawn, and she wanted it in time for bridge club at her house on May 28.

Now, she has a little bit of a quirk in that she doesn’t like to hire people to do things for her if she can talk us (her daughters and sons-in-law) into doing it instead.

So in honor of the day and knowing that it would bring a smile to her face to watch her folks helping her out with the yard, baby sister came up with the idea of sodding the entire yard for her.

Now, I don’t mind a little yard work, (with the emphasis on little – just ask my neighbors) but his was a big project.

The aforementioned yard helper guy came over the day before the planned Saturday sodding event and tilled the yard. (When I saw it, I had flashbacks to when we had first moved into the house. We spent what seemed like the entire first summer sprigging centipede. I haven’t been wild about centipede since.)

Saturday morning had the Hubster up and at it by 6:30 a.m. He raked and pulled around the big 4x4 timber to level bits out before one of the other players arrived with a section of chain link fence which he attached to the riding lawnmower and dragged around to smooth out the mess from the tilling.

To one side of the yard were seven pallets stacked high with rolls of centipede, taunting me.

Once we got started it was pretty intense, all of us carrying and rolling out and pulling into place one section after another. I also got to play with the ax, chopping off sections that were too long, filling irregular bald spots with the extra bits.

Momma’s job was to sit on the front porch with a pitcher of icewater and glasses, and serve it up as we arrived at the steps begging for a drink.

She was a happy momma.

In less than four hours we were done, sprinklers were set to wet it down, and although we were sweaty and dirty, we were satisfied with a job well done.

And her response, “This looks really good. I just thank you all so much. I was just looking at the roof a little while ago and was wondering if there might be something you all….”

I didn’t hear the rest as a vision of us all crawling around on the roof next Mother’s Day took hold. Actors have body doubles. I wonder if I can find a roofer that looks like me before next Mother’s Day?

Contact Judy Watts at 873-9424, ext. 220 or jwatts@journalscene.com.