Frazz by Jef Mallett for July 19, 2020

You give a little, you get a little.

Fine, as long as you don’t mind the exhaust fumes.

There is a theory that wheat (and perhaps other grasses) is the ruler of planet earth, enslaving humans to plant, water, feed, tender and distribute their species, by ever more sophisticated means.

If you’re gonna have a big yard and no power mower, best to have the yard flattish.

I still say that lawns are stupid, being a colossal waste of time, effort, and money.

If he is mowing the length in one direction then coming back the opposite direction next to it, shouldn’t the grass look like alternating light and dark green stripes due the way the roller behind the cutting reel flattens the blades of grass causing the sunlight to reflect differently?

the fact he will mow in the current heat spell shows he’s a better man than I, even though he’s a character in a comic.

Remember the pushup challenge, last month? I wrote

(@gammaguy, June 16, 2020)

“Note that he doesn’t say you need to do the 100 all in one go. I think I should be able to do 10 sets of 10 — with at least half an hour’s rest between — during most days.

“I’ll see if I can convince myself to try that tomorrow.”

Well, I didn’t actually get going until June 18, but now I’ve been at it for exactly 30 days.

The first day I did two sets of 10 and four sets of 20. Since then, there’s only been one day when I totalled fewer than 100 (I was caught up in an emergency), only a few days when I’ve done fewer than 110, and one day when I totalled 150.

More importantly, from that first day when I did sets of 10 and 20 (no more than 20 in a row), I have progressed to doing sets of no less than 30. So in one month I’ve clearly gained both strength and stamina, while taking very little time, either per set or per day. I’m not overexerting myself, and it feels good!

And I’m going to continue, not as a “challenge”, but because _I feel better- when I do it .. both during and after. I may “formally” raise my daily goal, though that’s hardly necessary, since I’m already regularly exceeding 100. Maybe aim for a minimum number of “sets” per day? I wonder how long it will be until I find myself doing sets of 100?

“And yet it flourishes.”

And why not? He’s trimming it, not uprooting it

I can see why you’d want to make a patch of your yard into a nice carpet, but why the whole thing? Plant some damned shrubs and flowers.

So, what if blood smelled better?

My sister hates the the smell of freshly cut grass.

I can’t wait to smell freshly cut lawn again, it’s been almost 6 weeks since the last mow, it’s all yellowish brown. Had a bit of rain this week, but it vaporized as soon as it hit the ground.

The 3 necessities of life, taxes, death, and mowing the lawn

1960s horror film title: “I was a pre-teen hay fever sufferer who earned money mowing lawns (in Texas)”

We had a grass tennis court and a push mower, don’t know why I’m not more muscular

If you have a very quiet mower, and listen very carefully, you can hear the little grass plants scream as they are cut. A favorite old Far Side cartoon had a grizzled old grandfather carrot, telling a bedtime story to a bunch of wide-eyed little carrots. “And then the ogre grabbed him by his hair, ripped him out of the ground, skinned him alive, boiled him, and ate him. Now go to bed.”

The smell of freshly cut grass is a distress signal sent out by the plant. In other words, the smell of freshly cut grass is your lawn screaming.

I had a screen saver like that once. Guy would start pushing the mower in the upper left corner of the screen and, by the time he got to the lower-right corner a minute or 2 later, he’d have to start all over again. Kind of soothing to watch the grass and flowers slowly sprout behind him.

The many people with grass allergies don’t feel so positive about it. Lawns suck.

Thanks be to the GoComics gods that this was one Sunday strip that the colorist didn’t forget to work on.

i remember mowing our lawn with that kind of mower when i was a kid; no gas or oil, spark plug, carburator, air ….those were the days!

Is that an “S” on his shirt? Go green! Go white! GO STATE!

The odor of fresh cut grass reminds me so strongly of the little pieces of grass getting into my nose that I feel them. Not a pleasant smell!

As someone allergic to pretty much every form of grass. I’ve always found the smell to be quite nauseating.

I’ve never agreed with a comic less. As someone who’s allergic to cut grass, it’s the worst smell possible, and nearly unavoidable for months out the year. All for a stupid manufactured craze from the WW2 era.