ROBERT SIEGEL, Host: From school attack to summer tech, we have a love letter now to a piece of machinery that is as much a part of the season as baseball and barbecue. It is the lawnmower, and it's the latest in our series Summer Sounds.</s>THE JAMIES: (Singing) It's summertime.</s>STEFAN SHEPHERD: I'm Stefan Shepherd. I'm a father of two in Phoenix, Arizona. And I write the kids music blog Zooglobble.com.</s>STEFAN SHEPHERD: Once I was old enough to operate machinery, I took over the weekend chore of mowing our lawn, front and back, for my dad.</s>STEFAN SHEPHERD: It's what keeps me from ripping up the lawn and putting in desert landscaping. But I can't wait for my kids to start mowing the lawn, too.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, Host: We'd like to hear about your favorite summer sound. Just go to NPR.org and click on Contact Us and be sure to write Summer Sounds in the subject line.</s>PORTER WAGONER: (Singing) Smiling sweetly, it's so good to touch the green, green grass of home.
For our Summer Sounds series, writer Stefan Shepherd recalls the sound of the old gas mower he had the privilege of operating as kid. It was a lot of work, but it made him feel grown up.