This week's column:Mowing old gracefully

As a columnist who’s both male and a father, I get a lot of e-mails each June from people trying to publicize their fatherly items and services, which, unlike the e-mails I get around Mother’s Day, almost never involve spas. (Why doesn’t anybody think Dad might like a good seaweed wrap?) They tend to feature things like mowing and grilling, which American men are required to master before they’re allowed to procreate. That’s in the Constitution somewhere.

For instance, I recently got a press release from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, who are apparently trying to cut down on their workload by preventing lawn-mowing accidents. The surgeons have some fine tips, including:

• "Before mowing, conduct a simple walk-through of the yard to look for any debris." Of course, this can be difficult when the grass has inexplicably grown to knee-level since the last time you mowed it. A better plan might just be to mow at night, so nobody sees it when dog toys, baseballs or squirrels come blasting out of your mower and lodge themselves in your neighbor’s siding.

For the rest of this week's AT LARGE by Peter Chianca, click here.