Love Your Neighbor and His Yard

How much of your neighbor's yard are you SUPPOSED to mow for him/her? I found myself wondering this today as I thoroughly exhausted myself mowing the entire yard (back + front, yes). When there weren't neighbors... only plots of empty weed-ridden land belonging to the developer... it was easy. I mowed as much of it as I could. Even though it was mown weeds, it was nice to have the extra space in the yard.

Now, though, we have neighbors to the side and soon-to-be neighbors in the back. (I still have one side that's completely mine to decide how much to mow... and we're lucky it's still empty... otherwise, we'd have to actually DO something with the clippings instead of just dumping 'em in the empty lot!) So, as I'm cutting my neighbor's lawn today, I started wondering if he minded... or if it was polite/impolite. Should I stop right at the line or go all the way to the edge of his sod (the landscapers seem to be a little cheap down here... they stopped his sod about 3-4 feet from the line... I guess because our grass has grown so well over onto his side... but still, MY GRASS... and there's definitely a distinct line now where the sod stops)? I ended up going to the sod, but I was frustrated doing it. First of all, the "sod line" is all kinds of crooked. It's like they had a few extra squares and just tossed 'em while blindfolded... so my "mow line" is crooked as well. Secondly, if I follow the sod line in the front, I have to stick to that line in the back... where there's no sod... so I'm mowing my neighbor's dirt just to maintain the straight line. That seemed silly.

Oh well. At least it gave me something to think about while I was working on it... well, during the times I wasn't belting out whatever song was blasting in my (i)podded ears. Lawnmowers, yelling, and overhearing, by the way, make for a funny combination. Did you know that the farther you get from the mower (within reason, of course), the easier it is for you to hear what the person doing the mowing is saying? My neighbor down the street (like 1/4 mile from me) often yells at his wife or kids while on his riding mower. They have to yell "What?!" and "Huh?" over and over again whereas I hear him perfectly the first time. So... given that little funny piece of data... I'm quite amused with myself just singing away tonight while I was mowing. I bet my neighbors were rolling on the ground laughing. But I will tell you I thought of that before I sang one note out loud. Just. didn't. care. Laugh away. Know why? Cause I was laughing with you the whole freakin' time. Probably laughing harder at myself than any of y'all. Obviously, mowing the whole entire (back + front) yard was extremely enjoyable for me this evening. However... now I'm tired... exhausted is more like it. Must. rest. now. Zzzzz.