The Reluctant Lawnmower. . . . .La tondeuse capricieuse

It’s not that I mind mowing the lawn. It’s the time it takes to start gas-powered equipment. I have years of experience trying to start generators, large bushwackers (with both 2- and 4-cycle engines) and mowers. Right now my daughter is having a similar experience. We often commiserate. She’s really the only person who understands—all my friends have lawn services.

Today, the lawnmower refused to start. I checked the oil and gas. I primed and tugged on the pull cord. Nothing. I checked the spark plug. I tugged. I went to the online trouble-shooting videos, some of which have more than 300,000 views, which means a lot of us out there have problems with our gas-powered tools. I could follow the video until the narrator mentioned the carburetor. That was outside the range of amateurs! Given that my mower does not fit in my car trunk (which precludes servicing), I checked with a friend in another town about the model of his electric mower. . . just in case I could buy one later.

By now, I have spent more than 90 minutes trying to start the mower and wondering why Briggs and Stratton does not make a Lego-type machine, where you remove the defective part and snap on the new. I took a shower and changed clothes. Just before I left the house, I gave the mower one last tug. Voilà, it started!

I planned to email my daughter, the only person who would understand my mower experience. But she was taking the day off. Something about an invitation on a yacht. She did attach a photo with the subject heading, “Life is hard.”