Time to Break Out the Mowers

We’ve gone through a fast snow-to-mow transition. The sun is shining and the days are a lot warmer, so the grass is growing like crazy. It’s time for me to put the mower on the tractor and get the lawn mower running, too.

The tractor spent the winter under cover, and it got a thorough overhaul from John’s Combine and Tractor Repair in Lebanon, OR a couple of years ago, so it always starts as soon as you turn it over. Our walk-behind lawn mower that we use around the house had a tougher winter, being left out again. (Why do we always do that?) As usual, it started on the 39th pull, but the starter cord broke soon afterwards. I’m always amazed at how these el cheapo mowers stand up to abuse.

Our riding mower (or “lawn tractor,” as the manufacturers optimistcally call it) is not running. I don’t know about you, but I hate the dual-blade design of most modern riding mowers. The mowing deck is inaccessible and the belts are way too hard to install. I liked the old-fashioned kind better, with a single blade, the world’s simplest belt drive, and an overall shape that made it easy to tip the mower on its side to get at the parts.

In case anyone is wondering, a “lawn tractor” is not a tractor in any sense of the word. It’s just a riding lawn mower. If you want to do something other than mow lawns, you want a real tractor. You can get an old Ford 2N, 8N, or 9N tractor in good working order for about the cost of a “lawn tractor.” These 60-year-old tractors will give you a lot less trouble than the sheet-metal junk in the hardware store.

The undeniable tractor-ness of a real tractor was brought home to me several times this winter when we got 4WD vehicles stuck on the pasture when unloading feed. We had no trouble pulling them out with the tractor (a Ford 641 from 1957). A lawn tractor wouldn’t even have made it onto the pasture before getting stuck, but a real tractor has immense amounts of traction where other vehicles have none. Great big rear tires with plenty of weight over the axle and deep rubber cleats, plus the immense torque of the low gearing make all the difference.

Check out my for more tractor tips, and happy mowing!

Independent Kids

When I was eight years old, I went out trick-or-treating by myself, returning hours later (long after dark) with an immense bag of swag. In those days, this sort of thing wasn’t remarkable. The urban myth about razor blades in the treats hadn’t made the rounds yet. The world was a reasonably safe place for kids, and everyone knew it. Kids went outside to play and were supposed to be home by dark, or dinnertime, or bedtime, or something. It worked great.

Nowadays everyone is terrified by the idea of independent kids, although it’s as safe as it ever was, so they keep the kids in sight at all times — until they are suddenly left on their own in their mid-to-late teens. What’s the point of cloistering our kids in this way, other than leaving them more dependent and less competent, while driving their parents crazy?

Which is why it’s such a relief to read books about active, competent, take-charge kids. This is what fuels my wife Karen’s passion for old-fashioned boy’s adventure books, like the Tom Slade series, which she’s bringing back into print. We’ll be releasing the third volume (Tom Slade on the River) soon. Kids who get out and do stuff, have adventures, and generally (but not always) do more good than harm. It takes me back. Hard to believe that kids are being raised in such a way that they don’t get a taste of this until adulthood.

You can check out our Tom Slade page on our Norton Creek Press Web site.

My SF Novel Will Be Available in a Few Days

I approved the proof of my SF novel, “One Survivor,” today, which means that it’s technically in print already. However, it takes a couple of days for the news to spread. Amazon and Ingram (the world’s biggest book wholesaler) ought to figure it out at more or less the same time.

It’s a 258-page trade paperback and retails for $16.95.

I’ve posted a new One Survivor page on the Norton Creek Press Web site, which has background information about the book.

I’ve also published a lengthy excerpt, which consists of the first third of the book. If that doesn’t hook you, nothing will.

When was the last time you read a science fiction book where an alien spacecraft gets repaired by a group of teenagers?