Sweeping Through the Grass

"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."
--Albert Camus, French author, journalist and philosopher

Today they turned on the fountains in our courtyard garden - a hopeful sign that the rainy season is coming to an end and the warm summer months are almost upon us. But it's not the sounds of the fountain that caught our ear this morning. It was the sound of lawnmowers.

Everybody who grew up in the suburbs of America knows the sound: the buzz of a lawnmower making its way back and forth across the yard, usually followed by the high-pitched whine of an edge trimmer or weed-whacker. I used to listen to my Dad mowing the lawn with our push mower and think how much easier Uncle Willie had it with his big riding mower next door. But to me both lawnmowers sounded pretty much the same - as Chris says, everybody knows the sound of a lawnmower.

It's the sound of summer in America. For kids, it means school's coming to an end for another year and the long lazy months of summer lie ahead, hanging hopefully just around the corner, brimming over with anticipated fun. For Dads, it's the reminder to get your own mower tuned up and ready to go, and the realization that lazy winter weekends will soon be replaced by Saturdays spent in the yard, weekly trips to Lowes garden center and the hope of an ice cold beer on the porch. For Moms, it's time to book summer camps, renew pool memberships and get screen doors fixed - again!

The lawnmower is something relatively new here in China. When we arrived in 2004, Chris would tell me stories of the workers outside his factories cutting the grass with scythes - sharp, curved blades attached to long wooden poles that they used to hack and swing at the poor green blades until there was virtually nothing left but sandy patches in the yard. Lawn care clearly was not a finely honed craft in Fuzhou back then, and despite the fact that almost anything will grow in the wet, tropical climate here, the concept of a beautiful sweeping lawn has never really caught on.

I always assumed we never heard lawnmowers in China because there wasn't any grass left in the big cities where we lived; the parks and public areas are always meticulously designed with paved, winding walkways lined with carefully planted shrubs and flowers, and any open areas are either covered with paving stones or made into a pond. Perhaps it's the poor condition of the soil that makes growing grass difficult; maybe it's the blazing summer sun that scorches any attempt to maintain a lawn despite the meticulous care of landscapers. The only places that boast a fantastic display of lawnmower-worthy grass are the golf courses - they are truly a haven in the urban sprawls of China and a blissful escape on a beautiful Spring weekend!

Evidently all the rain we've had these past few weeks has caused the grass to start growing, and this morning we heard the first sounds of the lawnmowers. Summer is just around the corner and, like a kid, I'm excited about the months ahead and all they will hold. For that I'm ever grateful to the landscapers, striding back and forth, pushing their mowers, filling the air with the sounds of their blades sweeping through the grass.