once in a while it would be nice to get what you hope for, rather than what you expect....i have been making a sincerre effort to stay on top of the lawn this year...i have been totally successful in keeping the main yard, about 1 1/2 acres nicely mowed noew that we have a working riding mower....the problem is the front pasture, about 2 acres in size, and Dude's pasture, about 3/4 acre...those had both gotten overgrown before i could get them cut initially, which makes it impossible to mow in one attempt, even with the riding mower....so i have been nibbling at them every time i mow, to try and het them done without killing the mower...so i am at it yesterday, when our neighbor from across the street, who i had been meaning to ask if i could borrow his tractor and brushhog to whack the long stuff down to a manageble size, come driving up and tells me he has bought a new finishing mower for his tractor....then asks me if i would like him to mow the parts of the yard i haven't been able to do, including Dude's pasture...i of course accept, even asking if he would prefer me to do the actual mowing, as it is still a couple of hours worth of work...he says no prob, i will come over tomorrow, now today and do it....i thank him, and go back to what i was doing...in the back of my mind, i am thinking that he may not show up, if he does, he almost certainly really won't mow everything, but maybe he really will...i of course get optomistic, taking him at his word...when 4 pm has rolled around, i'm feeling pretty down, not surprised, but disappointed for sure...he turns up about 5, which gets me annoyed at myself for being so cynical, and starts mowing, which has me feeling good again...much to my dismay, he lives up to my realistic expectation...he mows about 2/3 of the front pasture, and most of that is just cut short enough that 4 or 5 days with the riding mower will maybe get it done so it can be mowed regularly...doesn't even touch Dude's pasture at all...*sigh*...Dude, btw, is my girlfriends miniature horse...he is about the size of a large dog...the grass in his pasture is taller than he is in places already...don't know what i'm gonna do to get it cut...mind you, i am grateful to him for doing what he did, as it saved me a lot of work, but i can't help being disappointed by the whole thing...i hate being right at times like this.