Mother nature has been quite cruel this year. The past month was all heat and no rain. There seems to be no relief in sight. Trees and shrubs are showing signs of distress, and some homeowners have abandoned the idea of keeping the lawn this summer.
But if you walk on my street, you will immediately spot a perfect lawn. No synthetic turf, that lawn is all real grass, immaculate and lush, vibrantly green like a perfect summer morning.
My neighbor, the proud owner of this award-winning lawn, works on it daily. Watering, fertilizing, mowing at least twice a week, sweeping dead leaves off the lawn, reseeding spots that may look slightly sparse… the list goes on and on.
The past August long weekend was another hot one. One evening, I was amazed to see my neighbor rushed out to water some “slightly yellowing spots” just as the sun was going down and heat starting to subside.
I murmured to myself – gee, isn’t that going a bit too far? The lawn looks just fine but here you are slaving yourself to make it just a little more “perfect”? Why do you have to worry so much about those little “slightly yellowing spots”? Do you even have time to enjoy the lawn?
If life is a lawn, how many of us are like my compulsive neighbor who obsesses with the “little yellowing spots” and needs to make sure everything is perfect?
Who keeps a never-ending to-do list to make sure every little aspect is “taken care” of? Who keeps tweaking and tweaking to just to make things “better” when things are already “good”? Who spends more time moving one thing to the next, rather than taking a moment to appreciate our surrounding?
Our lawn certainly requires regular tending, but please don’t forget the lawn is there for us to take pleasure from as well.
Take care and stay cool this summer.