All this rain over the past month has been brutal on my yard. My garden’s looking pitiful, and the grass shot up past my knees.
It needed cutting right when the rain started, but every dry spell, our yard guy was booked solid. Then—like clockwork—the clouds would roll back in. By Saturday, our place looked like it belonged on a haunted house tour.
Brandon finally had enough and decided to tackle the front yard himself.
When he cranked up the weed eater, I couldn’t help but grin.
Up until last year, I thought “weed eater” was the only name for it. Then I found out some folks call it a “string trimmer” or—get this—a “weed whacker.”
Naturally, I had to know why.
Turns out the very first string trimmer was invented in 1971 by George Ballas down in Houston, Texas. His gas-powered yard tool? He called it a Weed Eater—because it chewed up grass and weeds around trees like nothing else.
And in true Southern fashion, North Carolina folks never stopped calling it that. I doubt we ever will. Old habits don’t just die hard here—they set down roots.
What you call it may depend on where you’re from, but around here? It’ll always be a weed eater.
And after this weekend, it’s also the reason my house no longer looks abandoned.
