26thSeptember

Sutton Station, Durham, NC

 Pain and suffering

My wife has a haircut and I have time to kill.  Seeking respite from my version of city life I head for the nearest patch of grass to read.  I already know that this non-native ‘grass’ is a lousy excuse for the nature I crave, a highly manicured, chemical induced illusion.  The lack of diversity is obvious, a monoculture in every sense, but what is not apparent is the real discomfort of this small patch of urban landscape.  I have not sat here for more than 10 minutes before I give up, the pain is too great to bear.  Each blade of grass is tiny spear burning into my flesh; it feels as though I am on a fire ant nest but I know no life, short of the one allowed to live, exists here.  There is no humus, there are no ants, just painful, artificial turf.



2 Comment(s)

Dave says 11th October @ 19:29

You can damn artificial turf if you want, but out here in Arizona it’s smart: It requires no water, no mowing, no petroleum-based fertilizers. It’s actually a very ‘green’ solution.

christopher says 23rd October @ 23:16

@Dave, the grass wasn’t artificial in the sense that its plastic, its just non-native grass that does take a lot of care, water and fertilizer. In AZ I personally would rather have a desert landscape (prickly pears!) over artificial turf but that’s me.

There is a cool company here called Bountiful Backyards that helps people green up their backyards with native and edible plants to cut their water consumption and maintenance cost (to the pocketbook and environment).

Leave comment