Weed whacker just sounds too filthy.

How is my yard looking?  Fine, thank you.  Just fine.  Not great.  Not like the common areas that a professional company takes care of. (How do they get the edge of the grass to stand up like a flat top haircut right at the curb there?  It’s amazing!  Plus they get those lines going like on a baseball field.)  I am not a profession yard man.  I am not, I suspect, even as good a yard man as Marquis.

Marquis was Mama’s yard man.  Marquis came by one day and announced his position.  Mama was fine with that because she needed her grass to be cut and it was pretty clear she would not be doing it herself.  Marquis had his own mower, but he needed to use Mama’s weed eater.  Before long, Marquis had his own weed eater and now Mama needed one, but she knew how Marquis had gotten his.  Marquis eventually brought her one.  Not the same one, and not after Marquis had gone away for an extended period.

During those 90 days, Mama had gotten another yard man.  It was summer after all and she needed to get somebody to cut the yard.  This yard man had a truck and a trailer and several mowers and weed eaters.  She did not really need the weed eater that Marquis brought, but she took it so that he would feel better about having brought something back.  She put it in the basement.  It was there when we cleaned out the house, so I brought it home.

Marquis’ weed eater still works.  It belches smoke when I start it and is too loud for me to hear “Bob Edwards Weekend” when I am using it.  It is up to the task of being my weed eater because I don’t expect much from a weed eater.  I expect to be able to make my lawn not stand out in comparison to my neighbors’.  If they would quit mowing their grass, the weed eater would be out of business.  But then what would I do to remember Marquis?