The way you care for you lawn says a lot, I think, about how you view life.

Easy synopsis: green grass = you care . . . dead grass = you don’t.

If that’s what I thought, it wouldn’t really be worth writing about, would it?

In the good ole’ PacNW, we get a lot of rain, usually into the summer as well. So, watering the lawn becomes much less important. But, this year, we are in a drought. 

I laughed too, when my husband said that the other day. But, a drought is an extended period of time in which an area receives a deficiency in its water supply. Here that means it has only rained 3 times in the last few weeks.

In California, there is currently a severe drought, and if they had the amount of precipitation we have received currently, they would be stoked.

Our region is used to much more rain in the Spring, and is consequently feeling the void of wetness.

My lawn is feeling it too. In the last house we lived in, we were on a well, so it didn’t cost anything to water the lawn. In this new house, we are on city water.

You better believe every time I turn on that hose, I see dollar signs fading away. 

My guess is the cost of watering the lawn isn’t as high as I assume it is, but it feels like a loss for something I don’t totally care about.

The problem is we rent our house – and the landlord cares.

Last week, we got “the email.”

“Jennifer and Richard, I hope this finds you well. I trust you are enjoying the home. I wanted to make sure that in this dry spell you are taking care of the lawn . . .”

Dangit. We aren’t. I mean, we weeded, but I can’t even find our sprinkler since the move in January. And, it’s obvious. The grass is dying . . . that’s probably generous . . . it’s dead.

I think what is difficult for me to take in about lawn care is that grass is fickle. And, seasons are short. Summer is warm and the sun scorches the grass, then Fall comes and the dead grass revives a bit, just in time to stunt its growth for Winter, only to flourish again in the Spring . . . only to die again in the Summer . . .

Do you see what I mean? I guess I’m just an “accept the seasons” person.

I see the others around me. The ones who spend countless hours in their yard during the summer months. Their grass is green and their gardens produce flowers and fruit and bounty. The ones who beckon the return of the sun and the control they get over their lawn with their sprinkler systems. Then, there are you over-achievers who HAND-WATER your lawn.

I had a neighbor who did that every evening in the summer. She stood outside for 1.5 hrs and hand-watered her lawn. I considered buying her a sprinkler, but anyone with that kind of resolve and love for their lawn probably knows sprinklers exist. She made her choice. 

So what’s the point?

I think I may be an “accept the seasons” person in life too. I have heard a few talks lately about the seasons of our life. Each season represents a time in our life that our circumstances or experience create. Fall is when everything keeps changing. Winter is when life is cold and hard and seems life-less. Spring is a time for new things. Summer is smooth sailing.

I think I’m an accept the seasons person, because it’s hard for me to tell which season of life I’m in. But, when you don’t know which season you are in, it’s hard to care for your life correctly. If you don’t know you are in winter, you don’t wrap the pipes on your house, or plan for the increase in your heating bill. When you don’t know you are in summer, you don’t start a watering routine or plan a vacation.

Awareness leads to action. If there is no action, then there is generally no fruit – and sometimes unexpected expenses.

I think I want to be someone who embraces the seasons. I think I want to be the crazy neighbor who hand-waters her lawn. I want to take extra care of my soul in the season that life is warm, so I don’t take for granted the light. Because summer is a season that I have extra time and more daylight and something to offer. And, if I don’t . . . I’ll miss the feeling of the soft, green grass on my bare feet or the freedom of a well-tended spirit.

I want to prepare for the Fall, so I can see the beauty in change, and not just be frustrated by the piles of leaves I have to rake up. That change will lead me to trust in the Creator of the Seasons more.

I want to cherish the quiet of Winter. I want to notice when the cold thaws and the Spring comes and things that have been dormant in my heart breathe in New Life.

Probably, I just need to start with going to the store on my way home from work today to buy a sprinkler . . .