Jonathan Meyer.

Well, the time has come. In this piece I will be exposing myself and the double life I have been living since the beginning of April. By now most everyone knows me as one of the dedicated local reporters, however I feel it’s time to expose myself. Here it goes…

When I’m not manning a camera, or notebook, or laptop, or listening, or interviewing, or en route to an event, I am a lawn-care technician in Cedar Rapids. Yes it’s true, I work weekdays in Cedar Rapids. With a 45 minute commute to the city of 5 seasons every morning followed by the commute back to my home in the afternoon, I find tons of time to brainstorm upcoming stories or jam out to tunes, or simply enjoy the beautiful road construction on Highway 30.

I work for a company owned by a close family friend Mitch Willems. Both his father and mine work together and have been close friends for longer than I’ve been alive. At Willems Lawn and Landscaping, I work as one of the lawn-care technicians.

Everyday I get the privilege of working with people I genuinely enjoy. My supervisor and mowing partner, Matt Etzel, taught me the ins and outs of the mowing business along with countless valuable life lessons. From daily rants to conversations about our lives and learning how to back a trailer up (I’m still working on that one) I can’t thank Matt enough for making what most would call a mundane job into an adventure everyday.

Two clients have been especially supportive of my journey as both a newsman and someone who mows their lawns. I’d like to thank Leigh and Lynne for supporting both Willems Lawn and Landscape along with Jonathan Meyer and his crazy career choices.

Being able to balance an out of town job in addition to my duties at the paper has been nothing short of a miracle. Never did I ever think I could write for myself let alone the community. Then throwing another job on top, I had no idea what I was capable of. Through these last four months I’ve learned maybe the most important lesson of my life:

Believe in yourself in whatever you do, if you want to make something work you probably can.