Outside Voice: The transformational power of a hand tool

I could tell you that I took in after chest-high hay with a hand tool known as a grass whip last weekend because I was paying attention to ozone alerts (true.) Or because the vibration of the perfectly functional gas-powered weed whacker in the shed is too painful for my hands (also true.) Or that I’ve been tuned up to the elegance of non-motorized landscape maintenance by a guy who builds tools based on plans developed by 18th century inventor Jethro Tull (completely factual.)
In reality,