24 March, 2013

How Green Is Your Grass?

I witnessed something on Saturday that I've never seen before, a grass PAINTING operation! Seriously. (Okay, not with a roller but with a spray gun from the back of a truck.) "Why?", I thought. I can't get this out of my mind today. This patch of grass was outside a shopping center, a strip that runs alongside the busy road leading into its parking lot. I began thinking: if I were out shopping would I pass this shopping center by if the grass in front was brown? No, I wouldn't; I doubt that I would even notice, but feel certain that dead or sparse, patchy grass wouldn't cancel my shopping expedition!  However, someone must feel that this is worth the time and resources to make it happen. The older I get the more I realize that I am a sum of my life's lessons and experiences, making me uniquely me.  When I was a little girl, growing up just north of Boston in the 1950's, I watched a television show called "Big Brother Bob Emery". It was a local show, on channel 4, and it aired daily. Big Brother "Bob" sang a song with this chorus on every show:
"Oh the grass is always greener
In the other fellow's yard.
And the little row, we have to hoe,
Sure seems mighty hard.
Now if we all  wore green glasses
Then it wouldn't be so hard
To see how green the grass is
In our own back yard."

What I learned was the importance of loving what we had rather than having all that I longed for. I can still hear the music in my mind, and I've never forgotten the lyrics of that refrain. And so, I suppose, my perspective on the whole grass painting operation might actually be too literal and representative of much more than simply a shopping center who wants to put forth a tidy, clean and welcoming appearance to its shoppers! For me, I'm pulling for that struggling grass to grow green and healthy on its own, even though it is located alongside a busy road; it just wants the chance to be happy for itself and love what it has, despite being less than that perfect shade of green! I'll be happy to wear green glasses and save the paint for something more worthwhile... wouldn't you?

Life is Good!



13 comments:

Karendianne said...

Great post!!!

To be honest, in all likelihood I'd have a negative feeling shopping somewhere with abused grass. Imagine how the little life trying to grow there might be doing? Poisoned. Probably my difficulty stems from my own childhood memory about grass.

My Mom had me bend down and look & listen to the grass. She sparked my imagination telling me "God is even in the grass." I never ever forgot that and I was probably three years old. Very very young.

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Grass painting is not new. We used to laugh about Elon when they painted their grass more than 15 years ago. They did it before important alumni events. Im with you, nature is beautiful.

Salem Stitcher said...

Not to mention it's a stormwater runoff contaminant...so it's probably not just killing the poor grass but also the microbial life downstream...then the fishes and frogs have nothing to eat...yeah... give me crunchy brown grass over that any day.

Janet O. said...

I've never heard of grass painting before. Interesting. I'll take the green glasses. : )

lindsey said...

I'm with you on this...cant believe people would bother and surely its not good for the grass that is trying its hardest to grow?

Nancy said...

Grass???? Green??? Surely you jest!!! today the world is white... and I get a day off of school to sew.

Hugs!

MARCIE said...

I always love your little bits of wisdom. They give me something to think about. I love that you have a mind that can find these gems in everyday life. Reading your blog is a little like being 'touched by an angel'. Love!

LizA. said...

That's just plain wrong......however, once I move to dry, brown central Washington in a few weeks I may think differently about this,...

Quiltdivajulie said...

Add another name to the list for green glasses . . . .

cityquilter grace said...

too funny, i was on that show in the early 1960s....church group and i watched it faithfully...how cool is that?

Carrie P. said...

that is so weird. I remember seeing fake grass in some places of Las Vegas. The kind used for football fields. I guess in the desert that is all they can grow.

Unknown said...

Yes and what does it do to the birds and to the bugs/worms that have to live in fake paint?

Unknown said...

Hmmm... I am not usually one to leave a comment (too lazy). BUT, this one I can tell you the other side of.

Now, bear in mind, this is in my region. The product they are spraying is made green organically and is a very natural product. You see green so they know where they have applied it. It is a spring application of fertilizer with the visual enhancement.

No damage to insects, worms, or fish if there is rain run off.