Lawnmower Time

Today my father in law made an interesting observation.
He mentioned, that every time that he is involved in an absolutely dull activity as for instance cutting the grass with the lawnmower, he starts to have thoughts about weird things, the past, his children and so on.
When I heard this I was actually cutting some remaining leaves of grass after operating the lawnmower. I said that as a practitioner of Zen you should avoid such thoughts and be completely absorbed with what you are doing, no matter how dull it seems to be.
For me it was easy this time, because I worked with the lawnmower for the second time in my life after an abstinence from cutting grass of about 30 years. So I had to concentrate and let the rotation of the blades, that one time hit a stone at the edge of the lawn, become the pulse of my heart. Yes.
However, I try to do that with the vacuum cleaner as well.
It is all Gary Thorp's fault.
His book Sweeping Changes (Zen oder die Kunst den Mond abzustauben/German title) is a nice inspiration for making Zen a constant presence.
One day I will have a little space in the garden, where the grass is allowed to grow, without being threatened by the lawnmower.
One day in the future.
One day.
And I will own a scythe and a sickle and a lawnmower, too.