A few years ago, my ancient Snapper gas-powered push mower finally bit the dust (it was at least three decades old at the time), and rather than replace it with something similar or one of those new-fangled, and, alas, pretty expensive, rechargeable electric models, I opted for, well, a return to my roots. When I was a kid, mowing the lawn meant taking out a genuine manual reel-type mower and working up a genuine sweat. I spotted a brand new one on sale, and I let my green inclinations get the better of me. It doesn't do a particularly great job, and you have to mow the lawn more often than usual, since this kind of mower really can't handle grass over a few inches high. But I don't care about show-piece greenswards, and, handled right, you get the grass cut and a workout all at once. My grand-daughter Stasia concurs and adds one other assessment. "This is fun!" she exclaimed, as she raced back and forth, the reel sending grass clippings back on to the lawn to be recycled as mulch. "This is really, really fun."