A journal entry from my sister, Erin:
I grew up in the country -- Hicksville, USA -- and lived in rural NY for most of my adult life as well. Recently, my husband got relocated for work and we moved to SuburbiaLand. We are in a very nice development with walking trails, a pool a clubhouse and a very tiny yard. I am getting used to the noise of neighbors and not being able to walk around the house "sans robe" with the blinds open, however, there are some aspects of suburban life that I don't understand.
Let's take, for example, lawn care. Back in Hicksville we had roughly 70 acres to maintain. We mowed two acres and the rest just kind of "did its own thing" - as nature tends to do. Caring for the lawn meant hopping on the riding mower for about three hours every other week, or when the grass was tall enough that you might lose your child in it. The cost: $6.00 for a couple gallons of gas per month. It's a little different out here in suburbia.
We have roughly a one billionth of an acre to care for. There is a very expensive, hi-tech sprinkler system that waters the front lawn. When we arrived, it was set to sprinkle every day for one hour. The grass grew six inches that day. So I opened the access panel, deciphered the instructions and adjusted it to water every other day. Or so I thought. The next three days, the sprinklers came on each morning at 6:00 am like clockwork. I opened the panel and set it to water ONLY on Sundays. Well, I must be irrigation-challenged, becuase the next day was Thursday and, you betcha, the lawn sprinklers popped to life once again. Maybe the system is possessed. At any rate, I got the water bill for the usage -- YIKES! $35 for a month's worth of water?!?! FOR GRASS?!?!
Of course, then you have to add the cost of a lawn service to that. Because, hey, if you're gonna water your lawn everyday, it's going to require a LOT of mowing! So that's another $25 per mow. Yes, people, for lawn mowing. What every happened to bribing the local teenager with a six-pack of PBR? I'm considering buying a goat, but am afraid the homeowner's assocation might have some by-law restricting grass-chewing animals.
Well, this morning I finally got a little wise and UNPLUGGED the sprinkler system. Let's see the damn thing re-program itself now!
From SuburbiaLand, USA, this is Erin -- waging the war against manicured lawns, one sprinkler at a time.
Peace, till next