THE SMELL OF NEW MOWED GRASS

By Manny Pinol

www.mannypinol.com

It has been a while, years in fact, since I last cut grass and smelled the distinct scent of new mowed greens.

Last Sunday, I tried my hand on my Stihl brushcutter and totally enjoyed seeing how the tall grass yielded to the rotating steel blade.

For what seemed like eternity, my memories brought me back to my days as a young boy growing up in the farm along with my other brothers.

We were brought up by a strict father and a caring mother.

It was Tatay who taught us how to value hard work and how to stand up and fight for what is right and just.

Early morning of Saturdays and Sundays, he would rouse us from sleep and lead us boys to our farm in Barangay Pulanglupa in M’lang, a good five kilometers from our house in Nueva Vida, to plant rubber seedlings and later to cut the grass and vines creeping up the growing trees.

“Early bird catches the early worm,” was his early morning line but he became the butt of our joke one morning when he stepped on the cat’s poo-poo.

“Early bird catches the early poo-poo,” we chorused as we laughed at our father who could only grin sheepishly.

But it was those days in the farm when we smelled the scent of the newly cut grass where all of us brothers learned to value hard work.

While all of us 11 are boys, we all grew up knowing how to cook, how to wash dishes, how to wash and iron our clothes and how to contribute to the daily chores in the home.

Last Sunday, as my mind drifted back to the days of my youth, I realized how my father molded all of us brothers into becoming what we are today.

I never regret waking up early in the morning when I was young because I believe those trips to the farm

Source: Manny Piñol