What is “Lawn Care” – part 2

Ahem. Okay. Where was I…

ah yes – I grew up in a very typical pseudo rural farm setting. My parents bought a neighboring farm to the farm that my Dad grew up on. And with living on a farm setting, comes lots of work. And this is the type of work that makes muscles and joints ache. You know – the type that actually makes you sweat. And that was an important realization for me. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I didn’t realize it was so unique to what modern day jobs have become (at least in “white collar”). I just knew I slept well after a good days work. And nothing beats a good night’s sleep!

(this is Me!)

I was the kid that mowed the lawn, weed wacked around all the farm buildings and structures, took the trash down (long driveway!), weeded the landscape, planted new shrubs and flowers, threw some paint on the walls, patched up the rotten boards, fixed the latches on the doors, inflated the tires, topped off the oil… etc. You get the idea. I was the helper. I liked being busy. My parents noticed it and offered to pay. That was their philosophy. When work is done, it is rewarded with a fair wage.

Fast forward – way forward – to me at my windowless office desk in my associate chemist role at my last job (after working for about 10 years in chemistry). I craved achy muscles. The sweaty days. I also saw a window of opportunity when my wife and I were buying our first home, in a town that was growing like crazy, and for whatever reason – I seemed to keep hearing “Do you know any lawn care companies? I can’t find one!”.

Well obviously, this is a great example of a decision to make without thinking it out. Just quit your job with a decent income and benefits, buy a $55k truck, and just drive home and break the news to the wife – right!? Sorry to disappoint – but that isn’t exactly how it went. It started like so many career moves do – or these days, like most professionals survive, as a side hustle. I figured this would be a short-lived buzz that would pass. I would work on the weekends. Make some extra cash. And I would work a 9-5 for the next 25 years or so. Except, it didn’t take long until I was working Saturday-Sunday, all daylight hours (during the core landscape season). This posed a problem. I can’t really work 7 days a week, but my phone was ringing non-stop. I had to decide what to do.

Okay. I have digressed a little from my original topic. But have I? This is MY blog. My little corner of the web where I get to share. So I hope you’ve stayed with me. At this point I’m about 30, married, first time home buyer, father of our first boy, and I’m about to make a decision that wouldn’t be easily taken back. I’m about to leave the corporate security and cut grass for a living. Yes, you read that right. Impulse decision? Not at all. Smart? Depends on what you want in life. Do I regret it? Nope. I have never looked back. In those first few weeks, I was the world’s happiest, most customer friendly, most easy going, lawn care provider there was. LIFE WAS GOOD.

What could possibly go wrong?