No good deed goes unpunished

There is an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished. Sometimes, even though you are trying to help someone, you have a tendency to foul it up.

The neighbors behind me went on a trip to California. Around the time they were scheduled to come home, I thought it would be a nice thing to surprise them by mowing their lawn. That way, when they came home after a long trip, they wouldn't have to worry about the grass. However, my surprise came when I was mowing near their dog pen in the back behind the house. Unfortunately, I mowed over the dogs' cable, which was lying in the grass. That caused me to replace the leash I had destroyed before they got home.

The next mowing of mercy was another yard where the owner had been under the weather. Armed with my trusty John Deere Rider, I made short work of that particular lawn. As I was leaving the premises, I noticed that some of the grass had ended up on the walk. So, on the way out of the yard, I swung over and started driving down the sidewalk. Thinking I had cleared the mat by the front step, I engaged the blade only to hear an awful racket. As if by magic, the welcome mat had disappeared under the yellow deck of the John Deere where it promptly ground everything to a halt. The only way I could get the mess untangled was to drive the mower up the ramps I use for loading, lay on my back with a fillet knife, and carve out what was left of the welcome mat. I thought about telling the homeowner that a dog ran off with the welcome mat, but I didn't think that would work.

Finally, my grandson and I went to the farm. I mowed the Johnson grass, and he did a more conventional mow in the yard with the lawnmower. By the time I came back, he had managed to drive over a piece of rebar and wrap it underneath the mower. We spent the next thirty minutes getting it out from underneath the mower. He was quite apologetic and concerned about the fact that he hadn't seen the rebar. After all my escapades, it was good to know that my grandson is going to apparently carry on the family tradition.