It’s like a lawn. A sick, patchy, nasty lawn.

We’ve only had six and a quarter inches of rain year-to-date but the grass really took off as soon as it started to fall, no doubt riding on its many successes during last year’s very wet Monsoon. And the grass patches and weeds in front of the Secret Lair got so high I had to take a string trimmer to them. And when I was done…


…my yard, which normally consists entirely of dirt, now looks almost like it has a sad sick lawn.

It’ll all be dead in another month, but still. With any luck the field to the west of the cabin will fill up with high, waving Blackeyed Susans again. That’s always nice to see.

Every time something like this happens I remember back when I took a job in the Texas panhandle. This was many years ago. It was my first time in life away from trees and grass, and it was a bit surreal at the time. My new boss was showing me around in his pickup: I was staring out the window going quietly mad as I contemplated what a godforsaken desolate wasteland I’d landed in when he enthusiastically crowed from the driver’s seat, “It’s not normally this lush this time of year!” ‘Lush’ is a subjective value…

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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6 Responses to It’s like a lawn. A sick, patchy, nasty lawn.

  1. Robert says:

    Black-eyed Susans are nice. Better than just sand. Or nothing.

    My former abode was surrounded by beautiful, indigenous, no-maintenance plants thoughtfully curated by a knowledgeable friend. New owners tore everything out to be replaced by little rocks because they didn’t like “all the icky plants”. Enjoy the foliage you have, however transitory.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Last September , I had to drive out west to my native Idaho. Was reminded why I like the green of Florida over the desolation of the west. A drought here in swampland ,only means it didn’t rain today.

  3. Malatrope says:

    As you well know, the desert has its own beauty. I’m pretty sure the first Martian settlers will love the view, even though there isn’t a plant on the whole damn planet.

    “Anonymous”, you must not have lived in north/central Idaho. It is lush green here in the right season (our seasons are Green, Yellow, Brown, and White).

  4. Joe Wooten says:

    Where were you at in the Panhandle? I grew up in the southern edge in Glasscock County east of Midland.

  5. Joel says:

    I spent several years in Pampa.

  6. bill says:

    Pampa…birthplace of Randy Matson.

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