Weed whacker love affair

Like most of the world, until a few years ago, I hated weed whacking. The string would break all the time, and always when I only had a few feet left to go. It was never a tool I could count on, just one I dragged out when there was no alternative. Three years ago we bought a Honda trimmer - a professional style one with a harness to help carry the weight. It not only is a trimmer, it can also be rigged up with a blade for cutting brush. I fell in love immediately. After getting used to it a bit I decided to head out to the blackberry patch by the road. You could see a couple of cherry trees poking up through the berries, but that was all you could see of an area probably 100' by 100'. I waded in - with boots, overalls, a long-sleeved shirt and bandana to protect me. My technique was to cut and lift the vines until they were freed; then I would slash back and forth to chop them in little bits. I would stay out for hours and hours. Over that summer I did the same thing in about four different places on our property. We leveled, scattered grass seed and now have lovely green areas where there used to be brambles. I even injured myself that summer, a repetitive strain injury that put my hip out of alignment over an inch and caused a bunch of related problems that were hard to diagnose. Now, even though I have to be careful, you still can't keep me away from my trimmer. Just last night, after a long day at work, I raced home in the sunshine because there was still time to whack for a couple of hours before dark.