Thursday Night Mowing League: You Can Cut The Tension With A Knife As Playoffs Start

Welp, the playoffs are over for me...looks like I'm out of the Chase

Talk about being bummed out. I sat here Thursday with the impression that an early morning rain would give way to cloudy skies and temps somewhere around 75 with high humidity. It has now rained on and off -- today it's been consistent -- for going on 36 hours.

Drizzle. Real rain. High humidity.

The lawn needs mowed BAD, but the grounds are just too wet.

And here's the real kick square in the nuts: Tomorrow is lawn waste bag pickup due to Labor Day and it's going to be too wet to mow today.

This sucks.

My emotions aren't in a good place right now. Forget about the playoffs for a minute. I'm facing mowing on Saturday -- not happening. Or mowing on Sunday with garden bags sitting around all week. It's a worst-case scenario around these parts.

Due to the Caribbean weather, Sunday is going to be like hacking my way through a Myanmar jungle.

Yes, I'm embarrassed. Yes, I feel like I let my own league down. Yes, my championship Chase is over. I didn't forsee my season ending under these circumstances, but all I can do is build a better strategy during the offseason and be ready to compete against the likes of the Shirtless Texas Football Coaches, Fink, TJ, the Adams, etc.

I will get better.

I want to feature a special member of the TNML

Jason in Far Nor Cal was one of those guys who clearly didn't have the confidence early on that he belonged in a league where guys were sending in photos of perfectly manicured 5-acre properties, but I kept telling him to hang in there and keep his head down.

Jason just needed to worry about Jason.

The yard just kept coming along. We're talking about a guy who lives in a rather hot part of California, so most people just let their yards die off.

Not Jason.

It nearly brings a tear to my eye to see a playoff video from Jason -- and more chalk art. Jason is what this league is all about. This isn't about the size of the house or what you have parked in the driveway. This is about taking pride in your property and what you've worked for in life.

I love to see him taking such pride. This video speaks volumes.

Let's be careful out there

And finally, this looks like a blast:

Buy! Buy! Buy! The TNML shirt is $16.99! Buy a size bigger than you normally wear...the tri-blend material will hug a little bit

Mowing Reports From Across The United States:

• Sean C. writes:

On Sunday, I hosted my annual Labor Day Weekend Party. The party consists of people who I’ve been friends with for 40 years, and people I’ve known for 40 days; family members and new acquaintances.

Two of the attendees of this year’s party were owners of a local golf course (the wife is an Indiana State Senator too). I was wearing my TNML shirt during the party, and they asked me about it. I gave them the 30-second commercial on the TNML, and they loved it.

They mentioned that when they pulled up to the house, they noticed how nice the yard looked. Then they asked if I mow fairways. As I thought about how cool it would be to do it, I’m not quitting my job for it……right now at least.

Which means that I’d be mowing on weekends, which completely goes against the bylaws of the TNML. I was honored that golf course owners admired my mowing so much, they wanted me up in the big leagues. However, my goal right now is to get a one-time tryout, just so I can put a good mow down on a golf course, and submit it on a weekly report.

This week’s mow was the coolest weather I’ve mowed in since April. After scorching hot 90-degree weather for the few days leading up, with zero rain, I was concerned that there wouldn’t be much grass to mow. But a big storm and some cooler weather, and Thursday lined up perfectly. You can see in the background how dark the skies were. I was dodging rain clouds throughout the afternoon, but the mission was completed. The first mow of September is in the books!

• Indy Daryl writes:

Gotta be honest, my hearts just not in it right now. Did the post vacation mow on Saturday with a little assist from my 8 year old which was great. But today I just didn’t have any pep in my step or excitement about getting my lawn striped up. I just sucked it up, gritted my teeth, laced up the ol Altra’s, and got s*%t done.

Yard is pretty beat down from the heat lately so brown spots abound. Yet, as I was finishing up, lo and behold here came a nice soft downpour. Definitely excited to see how the yard responds to the moisture.

I hope all is well across the TNML and enjoy football tonight!!

• David in Texas writes:

Another week in the books. It’s still hot here. Lots of season left. Love the new shirt.

• Mike T. in Idaho writes:

Greetings from beautiful Eagle, Idaho.

Beautiful weather here in the Mountain West, highs mid eighties and low in the 50s! Our family has always called this time of year “ Indian Summer “ everything’s growing fantastic and it’s wonderful to go outside.

Grass, tomatoes and grapes everybody love this time of year!