Angels with lawnmowers

Updated 3:02 p.m.

There are angels who mow among us.

I’ve written about Rodney Smith a few times over the years and now Minnesotans get a chance to see him close up.

Smith, who is from Alabama, is the guy who travels the country to mow lawns in all 50 states each year.

Your turn Thursday, Minnesota.

“I saw a guy traveling the world with acts of kindness,” said Smith, 29, during his stop in Kansas on Tuesday. “So I decided to travel to all 50 states last year and then again this year.”

He cut the lawn of an elderly couple whose recent health problems have kept them from doing much outside work this year.

Yesterday, he cut the grass at the home of a single mother in Des Moines, Iowa, who doesn’t own a lawnmower.

“I usually ask my neighbor to mow the lawn for me for $20, but since I don’t have any money right now it’s been growing,” said Kareen Baccam.

Minnesota is the last state in the continental United States on Smith’s list this year. He’ll fly to Alaska after his stop here. MPR News reporter Tim Nelson will have a story for the radio and the web later on Thursday.

Smith started the Raising Men Lawn Care Service. Because: why not?

How inspiring Minnesotans find Smith’s story will be determined by how many Minnesotans go out and cut someone else’s grass this week.