The grass is always neater on the neighbor's lawn

One of the reasons I don't live in the standard suburbs

It's just a LAWN.

It's not a Texas high school football field (Texans take HS football more seriously than most people take college or pro football).

It's not a world series baseball diamond infield.

It's not a World Cup stadium.

It's not the Augusta National, home of the Masters.

It's just a LAWN.

You walk on it. You play on it. You roll around on it. If it's ours, you can drive and park on it (Rachael and Shaunda both think the spot by the front door is theirs).

So when I get out the old riding mower (it is after all more than an acre!) on the big wedge shaped lawn (like part of God's "Trivial Pursuit" board) with the house at an angle and oddly shaped flower beds and trees planted willy nilly, I don't even worry about perfectly parallel tire tracks or making a cross-hatch pattern. If the grass and weeds aren't so tall that mowing leaves huge clumps, we don't bother to rake. The leaves and semi-mulched grass make a good fertilizer; why should I rake them up, then go pay for more fertilizer?

I'll never win a "best lawn award" unless the Addams Family moves in on one side and the Munsters move in on the other side. And then, I'd probably just let it go longer between mowings.

You want to invest time, love and money in your lawn? Be my guest. It doesn't bother me one bit. Just don't expect me to, or get offended if I don't fit the image you want for the neighborhood.

It's a lawn. A collection of grasses and weeds. Something to walk, play, lie down, drive and park on.

Life's too short to waste much time on a steenking LAWN!!!