The First Day of Spring

Today is the first day of Spring for this year. My roommate and I celebrated by having fresh strawberries. I also went to visit a friend and sat on a covered patio, enjoying the warmth and the wind. It was all very nice. I was sitting with my back to the sun, letting the sun warm my muscles, ease the ache that tends to stay in my back. As much as I can be annoyed with the Giant Ball in the Sky, there are times when I find the sun remarkably healing. Today was one of those days.

People have already starting mowing their lawns. I know the lawnmowing people don't mean it this way (possibly) but there is always this sense of smugness coming from their direction. Yes, I know you mowed first. Yes, I know your yard looks awesome. Peachy. Maybe I'm reading too much into that. Maybe the dude down the street wasn't giving me the Side Eye as I drove by him on his mower. Or, you know, maybe he was giving me that look for other reasons. With me, there are always other reasons.

The sound of lawnmowers annoys me, but at least it's not the worst sound coming from one of the neighboring houses. The neighbor dude down the street has this one loud ass machine that he runs all the time. It makes this huge vibration noise that always makes me worry that my computer is dying. My roommate has told me, many times, what that machine is really called, but I'm not sure my brain has ever registered what he said. In my head, that machine is, and always will be the Motherfucker Machine. The Motherfucker Machine was so named because that annoying motherfucker who lives down the street runs it almost constantly. I want that machine to die . . . no, I want it to electrocute him, so he won't just go out and purchase another one.

I'm not completely convinced the Motherfucker Machine even does anything of value. I think it is just there to make horrible noises. Any time he wants to just ruin everyone's mood, he goes out there and turns that machine on. For the next hour or so, we have to listen to it shake practically everything in the area. I don't think it is fixing anything or cleaning anything or creating any kind of benefit. I think it just makes horrible noises. Again, to be fair, my roommate possibly told me what the machine does, but my brain, in its fury, did not register what he said.

Oh well, that is just one of the problems when one lives close to other people, specifically other people who seem hellbent on making a lot of noise. I understand that noise can't be avoided. I like noise. I listen to music almost all the time. Of course, I wear headphones because I have some level of respect for the people around me. Too bad the Motherfucker Machine can't be silenced as easily.