Neighbors

So it was getting pretty warm (up until today...) and a few days ago I was working on the lovely task of mowing the lawn. Brian and I do not have a lawn mower, but one nice thing about the military is you can rent stuff like that on base. Rent as in for free... more like borrow really. We have to return it the next day.

As you all know, I am quite capable with outdoor maintenance stuff (thank you Terry). I have mowed our lawn here plenty of times and for some STUPID reason was having a really hard time getting the lawn mower started the other day. I was giving it all I had. I would try try try and then go get a drink, try try try again and go get a drink. A blister burst on my pinky and I thought I should give it a rest and try again in an hour. So Shugo and I go on a walk... I return feeling ready and able. Failed again. I tried over and over and over and over and over. Another blister burst this time on my middle finger. Apparently my hands have gone soft... I figure there is no way I can get this damn thing started so I better go ask Shin (the neighbor) for help. In my lovely Japanese I said, "Takashite onagaishimasu" I have no idea how to spell it... anyway, so he came over. At first he looked like he was inspecting it and I thought maybe he thought it was broken. I tried to tell him I just couldn't start it. Language barrier... then all of a sudden he says, "Choku?" The choke! DUH! I completely forgot about these stupid things having a choke. Of course I look on the mower and it says in English "push to prime". Idiot. So I puh it and then Shin starts it no problem. Stupid American.

So I mow the lawn, pull a few weeds, decide it was too hot to continue and go take a shower. When I got out my doorbell rang and Hiromi (Shin's wife) brought me a icee thing! I took a picture of it. It was so hot that day, it was really nice of them to make me a shaved ice thing. It was really good too :) THEN... my neighbors are seriously the nicest ever... two days later (yesterday) when I got home, I noticed that all my weeds were gone. I was growing quite a lot... we have a bit of gravel around the side of our house, and you might have thought we had a garden... or our own personal forest. I saw Shin with a weed eater out behind our house a ways so I knew it was him. I of course thanked him. Seriously though, we have the nicest neighbors ever, a BIG step up from our SD neighbors :)