Grass, Grass, a Pain in the . . .

Here we are in mid-February, and all around me today I heard lawnmowers being cranked up and put to work taming the grass and weeds that are already growing like . . . well . . . weeds. We've had so much rain and so many warm days that the vegetation clearly believes spring is here. If you see me standing in the backyard with a calendar in my hand, talking to the healthiest dandelions you've ever seen, you'll know I'm having a come-to-Jesus meeting with them and asking them to cut that nonsense out.

The man who cuts my grass called last week to see if I was ready for him to start regular mowings again, and I asked him to hold off until I call him. For one thing, the ground is still holding water, and I don't want him to get bogged down in it like he did last year. And for another, I thought I could forgo the expense of lawn care at least until March. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Yeah, I know. It is what it is.

Now that everyone around me has mowed, I suppose I'll have to rethink it. I don't want to be known as that neighbor.