The other day I came home from work and both of my daughters and a friend of theirs were out on the new lawn in the backyard. They had their shoes off and they were just laying there in the sun chatting and playing under the curious eyes of our three urban chickens. It was great. I smiled.
On days like that, I'm so happy that we decided to put a lawn in the back yard.
But then when I look at our tiny little garden (48 sqft), and I look at our water bill, or the lawn mower, I hate the lawn. I curse it.
When my wife and I talk about wanting to grow blueberries or plant more vegetables or fruit trees or build a playhouse for the kids, I hate the lawn.
I fully expect that some time in the next 5 years we'll end up tearing out some/most of the lawn. As we continue to want to plant more and water less, we'll come to see that lawn as a huge soft/lush/green carpet of doom. One that requires mowing/edging and other maintenance.
But until that day, I'm going to go out and set up the tent on the weekends so my daughters and I can camp in the back yard. I'll kick the soccer ball around with my younger daughter and play catch with the older. We'll have friends over and they'll sit down on the lawn and relax. And I'll smile.
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Living in the middle of a mountainous desert, it doesn't make sense to have lawn. And yet I do. I love it. And I, too, hate it. But during the summer, there is nothing more lovely than laying in the grass and watching the clouds go by. I try to remember that when I pay the water bill, even though it's sometimes hard to do through the tears. :)
ReplyDeleteGot lost reading your blog! It's terrific!
ReplyDeleteNow, if you could just harvest those tears to water the lawn... ;)