 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
On this Fourth of July, as we commemorate the 232nd anniversary of the declaration that propelled a nation to shake loose the shackles of a distant monarch, it is time to consider breaking free of yet another tyranny imported from across the Atlantic.
I speak, of course, of the grassy lawn.
If ever an object stood in the way of the pursuit of happiness, this is it.
It taxes our wallets and our time, pits neighbor against neighbor and consumes valuable resources.
Consider the benefits that could accrue to us as individuals - as well as the nation - if we could find it within ourselves to cut lose the ties that bind us to this wasteful conceit.
First, there is the water - millions of gallons of it - that would no longer disappear into the soil to support a plant that neither feeds nor clothes us.
Second, gasoline now used to power mowers, would be available for other uses.
Third, with lawn mowers, edgers and blowers suddenly silenced, neighborhoods would be quiet again except for the singning of birds, the barking of dogs and the shouts of children at play.
Fourth, our waterways would have to contend with less pollution caused by the runoff of pesticides and fertilizers spread with abandons to keep lawns bug free and green.
Fifth, native plants could re-establish themselves.
And sixth, time spent tending and mowing lawns could be better spent with our families or sipping a cold beer at corner tap room.
Clearly these benefits outweigh anything that a lawn itself could provide, being as it is the product of a misguided esthetic.
With that in mind, combined with the knowledge that our lawns need us more than we need them, I urge you, my fellow citizens, to join with me in making our own Declaration of Independence. From this day forward, let us live a lawn-free nation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sa
Nov 22
|
Su
Nov 23 |
Mo
Nov 24 |
Tu
Nov 25 |
We
Nov 26 |
SPORTS
OBITUARIES
Green
today's poll
express headlines
Promotions
photo GALLERY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
email this
print this
reprint or license this
