As a musician, I purely hate powered gardening devices. The excuciating sound of a power mower is enough to give me homicidal impulses. I also avoid yard work whenever possible, which is almost always.
So this morning I sit down to practice the piano, and shortly I hear that dreaded “hrm-hmm-hrm.” It’s louder than usual, too. I look out the window … and my around-the-corner neighbor is mowing my lawn! Purely because he wants to. I did not request that he do this, nor even hint about it.
What could I do? I put on my cap and gardening gloves and went out and pitched in a little. And thanked him profusely, of course. The lawn badly needed mowing.
Now my left arm is a little sore from pushing the broom, which gets in the way of sitting back down at the piano for an hour or three. (This thing where you’re over 60 — it’s not a lot of fun, trust me.) But how can I be pissed off when the guy did me a huge favor?
Life is not always black and white. Not if you’re paying attention.
Jim Aikin's Oblong Blob 