So I’m outside watering the new lawn. We (not some sodding service we hired, btw) laid sod this weekend. It was hard, back-breaking work. Oh…I digress. So as I was turning on the sprinkler to give the new sod a chance to ‘take’. A older lady walking her dog makes a snarky comment: “Your yard looks nice.”
How rude was that? I just did one of those fake ‘he he’, “Thanks.”
I know, I know. You might think I am over reacting. That is entirely possible. But there’s history here. For you to understand my reaction, you have to heard the Story of the Lawn:
The yard (both back and front) had been overrun with weeds…but still green. So we decided it would be easier to take it all out and put sod in. So in the middle of May, B borrowed a tiller and tilled the entire front yard. It looked awful! He tilled it again…still looked bad. We raked it up into mounds all over the lawn. Now we look like we have a huge gopher problem.
It rains. So we call it a day for that weekend.
It rains again. And again. And again.
Texas had record breaking rainfall. Last year we were on water restrictions because the lakes were so low. Now they are flooded. For almost the entire 2 months, it was raining.
When it STOPPED raining, B called the sod people. They didn’t have sod to sell. The place they grow their grass was flooded at this time…and who knows when it would be dry enough to go and cut new sod.
So we wait. And wait. And wait. Another couple of month pass.
Then we go to see his Mammaw up North. (We bring the rain up there. Apparently, until we arrived there, they had had a drought. Maybe we should have charged a fee?)
Came back home. B got a new job so was too busy to do anything to the yard for a month.
Now we are in the month of August. Weather getting better…and the yard looks awful…so we decided to prepare it again. We work all weekend long to put a TON of manure and rented a tiller to mix it into the dirt. (and while we were at it, B took old mulch out and prepared the beds around the house…poor thing…a LOT of work) We had planned to put in sod the following week.
Guess what happened? Yup. Rain. A gusher!
Because the house is on a slight hill, and the dirt is nice and loose, the aftermath was not pretty. Imagine an aerial view of an area ravaged by heartless Big Business raping the lush forest for ‘progress’…right after a torrential rain. You know, those rivulets across the face of the dirt.
So this past weekend (September now) we got up early to get the ground leveled again. It was HOT. However, no rain clouds in sight. The grass came…3 huge pallets. 3 huge piles of grass. (actually 4…but one was for the neighbor)
Thankfully B’s Mom came to help, bless her heart.
You might be asking yourself, “What does this have anything to do with being unnecessarily being rude to a little old lady walking her dog?”
The entire time the front yard looked…admittedly…crappy, our neighbors were giving us ‘the eye’…never saying anything…you know, the heavy silence. Then all of a sudden, everybody who passed by in cars slows down to take a gander…a few stop to make comments.
I don’t need to hear it. I don’t WANT to hear it. We got to it as fast as we could! You’re not the boss of me!
Okay…so maybe I over reacted just a wee bit. Maybe. I’m not feeling guilty at all. I’m not!
Besides, she was rude when she said it. It sounded nice, but believe me, her voice was laden with judgment.
Oh what the heck…I wouldn’t have wanted to live across the street from us, too. Hm. I wonder if that’s why they’ve been so rude?
Leave a comment