When you eat lunch and drink coffee with a co-worker four or five times a week you get to know them pretty well. What anyone should know about Russell, he tells you himself. "I don't know anything about elevators. Ask me about baseball, the pool or lawns."
And during those many visits to double D's I would hear people call Russell and ask him those types of questions. I hear him give very detailed advice "That's right, put the fertilizer down the first weekend in April."
Some time ago, on a Monday, I asked my friend Russell what he did over the weekend.
"Well, I had a three foot by six foot area of grass that had the blades going in a different direction from the rest of the lawn."
I quietly wondered 'Where is he going with this?' A cesspool issue? A deranged teenager on a minibike?
"So I cut out the area and replaced it with new sod."
He was serious. Russell's mind is gone. Who would notice such a thing? Or care? It's not in his nature to play mind games. I calmly asked "Are all the lawn blades now going in the same direction?"
"Yes they are."
Russell's lawn-stress comes from an imperfect lawn.
In the book The Little Prince a drawing is shown to people in order to determine how they think. Asking a suburban about their lawn gives you similar results. I found it doesn't matter how good a Long Island lawn looks. What's important is the priority level that person gives a lawn relative to where they are in life. Does a lawn need more time then your own kids? Would you spend food shopping cash on pesticide? Or, are the kids grown-up and the lawn still brown?
This morning, on the soccer field before Gregory's game, my friend Mike asked me about Rebecca's game. Mike lives two doors down and his son, Danny, is on the same team as Gregory.
"I would've dropped off the boys so you could have seen Rebecca's game too."
"I was fertilizing the lawn. I'm getting discouraged with it. The kids play in the same spot every day. The goal area is all dirt."
Mike knows the deal "I have a #$%^ pitchers mound in the middle of my lawn! What can you do?"
"Lisa and I decided to keep the sports arena in the backyard from now on. Maybe I can keep the front decent."
Mike laughed a little. Another Dad joined in. Everyone has a plan to keep the lawn green.
Mike pays someone to do his lawn. His lawn-stress comes from writing those checks.
My brother in law Pat loves to work on his lawn. He frequently says "The lawn relaxes me." He grew up on Long Island so it's in his nature. He never had to learn about lawns, he grew up with them. Lawn knowledge helps save time and money. The work is easier when you know success is guaranteed.
What causes Pat's lawn-stress is his own dogs roaming around the property. Dogs do more lawn damage than athletic kids.
Some time ago, on a Monday, I asked my friend Russell what he did over the weekend.
"Well, I had a three foot by six foot area of grass that had the blades going in a different direction from the rest of the lawn."
I quietly wondered 'Where is he going with this?' A cesspool issue? A deranged teenager on a minibike?
"So I cut out the area and replaced it with new sod."
He was serious. Russell's mind is gone. Who would notice such a thing? Or care? It's not in his nature to play mind games. I calmly asked "Are all the lawn blades now going in the same direction?"
"Yes they are."
Russell's lawn-stress comes from an imperfect lawn.
In the book The Little Prince a drawing is shown to people in order to determine how they think. Asking a suburban about their lawn gives you similar results. I found it doesn't matter how good a Long Island lawn looks. What's important is the priority level that person gives a lawn relative to where they are in life. Does a lawn need more time then your own kids? Would you spend food shopping cash on pesticide? Or, are the kids grown-up and the lawn still brown?
This morning, on the soccer field before Gregory's game, my friend Mike asked me about Rebecca's game. Mike lives two doors down and his son, Danny, is on the same team as Gregory.
"I would've dropped off the boys so you could have seen Rebecca's game too."
"I was fertilizing the lawn. I'm getting discouraged with it. The kids play in the same spot every day. The goal area is all dirt."
Mike knows the deal "I have a #$%^ pitchers mound in the middle of my lawn! What can you do?"
"Lisa and I decided to keep the sports arena in the backyard from now on. Maybe I can keep the front decent."
Mike laughed a little. Another Dad joined in. Everyone has a plan to keep the lawn green.
Mike pays someone to do his lawn. His lawn-stress comes from writing those checks.
My brother in law Pat loves to work on his lawn. He frequently says "The lawn relaxes me." He grew up on Long Island so it's in his nature. He never had to learn about lawns, he grew up with them. Lawn knowledge helps save time and money. The work is easier when you know success is guaranteed.
What causes Pat's lawn-stress is his own dogs roaming around the property. Dogs do more lawn damage than athletic kids.
My friend John lives across the street. He went to an agriculture college. His lawn philosophy includes mulching. The major advantage of mulching is putting the grass seed back into the lawn. The mulching lawn-stress comes from the frequent mows required.
I don't want to mulch because the grass clippings will end up in the pool. I never like to pay someone else to do work I can do. I don't care enough (okay, at all) about lawn blade direction.
If I didn't have Long Island neighbors my lawn wouldn't exist. A person's status rises and falls with his lawn out here. It must be something in the water.
If I didn't have Long Island neighbors my lawn wouldn't exist. A person's status rises and falls with his lawn out here. It must be something in the water.
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