It must be Sunday...

A typical mower

...because the neighbourhood is alive with the sounds of garden machinery. Mowers, hedgetrimmers, chainsaws, machines for pointlessly blowing leaves around the garden, you name it.

There's a gap in the great wave of ecomentalism that's sweeping the planet. We're worried about pollution, carbon footprints, rainforests, gulf streams, et al, and quite right too, but we've missed something. What about quality of life? Not just for endangered species or exotic tribes, but, well, you know, me. We don't seem to worry about noise pollution in our own back yard; and if we're desensitised enough for that then maybe our judgement when trying to save the rest of the planet is equally impaired. (Oops - I'm off subject - I feel a future grumpyblog coming on).

So back to garden machinery. What's going on here then? How come Honda, home of the slick and slimy adverts proclaiming how their products are making our world a better happier fluffier etc. place, make garden tools which can be heard clear across town? If they can make a car run on a glass of water or a cow fart for a week, can't they fit a silencer to a lawn mower? Just wondering.