I’ve been hard at work the last couple of days mowing, thatching, mowing, raking, mowing... and planting grass seed in my yard. Why? So that I can complain about having to mow it next spring. Why go to all the trouble to have grass so that you can cut grass. Bob suggested on Facebook that it is sheer lunacy. But I prefer to see myself confirming the endless and meaningless circle of life observed by the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 1:3-8
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north;round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.To the place the streams come from, there they return again.8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say.The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
The sun rises and sets only to return to the same place the next morning to begin its trek again. The wind blows one way and then the next. I once drove past a vacant lot in Midland, Texas that was filled with old newspapers and plastic bags that hadbeen trapped by the lot’s fence. I asked about it and was told, “That trash just blows in from Odessa.” I asked what happens to it and was told, “Oh, it just blows back to Odessa.” Ecclesiastes would like that.
Ecclesiastes would also like thatching, planting, and mowing that becomes thatch that is removed again the next fall. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher.” There’s no point, and that’s the point. Actually, there is a very good point… but I’m just too beat right now to figure out what it is!
2 comments:
Let me help you out, you see you every blade of grass (or weeds) if that is what you want to call them) every green plant on your property is doing its job; taking in the C02 during daylight hours, and to a much lesser degree it is taking in a little oxygen during the night and putting out a little CO2 (as the breathing of the plants does reverse during the night time). All those living roots near the surface are also stripping the air of pollutants. Moisture is needed for this to happen and the dew is full of it. Great weather isn’t it! Electric mowers are better for you and will not put out all of that CO that you shouldn’t be breathing more than 20 parts per million. We are lucky that most of the time it is about 9 parts per million here on days like this.
The earth and all it’s chemistry is alive and doing it’s job. When we mow the grass with our gas mowers we are breathing huge amounts of poisonous carbon monoxide gas. That gas does accumulate in the body overtime and makes us tired, crumby and lethargic. As our levels increase we begin having more and more troubles organizing our thoughts and we become more scatter brained. This all happens very gradually and we might not even be aware of the odorless gas if it were not for the taste of oil vapors in the air. I have considered wearing a very tall snorkel when cutting the grass. I would need a valve so that I don’t continue taking in my own breath.
Unfortunately I can not go out and get an electric lawn mower and throw away my old one that still runs and does a fine job after nearly two decades of reliable service. I after wondered why I felt so sick and tired from mowing the grass.
I think I might be getting allergic to carbon monoxide. Naaa! Just taking it in quicker than a body can get rid of it that is all. Vanity of vanities. . . indeed.
The earth is alive. It was wonderfully made and holds all we need. It can and does do a very good job of cleaning the air we breath. Ions are exchanged near the surface and there is balance in our earth and the universe. Sometimes we in our effort to make things look better and more ‘kept’. . . sometimes we throw the chemistry out of balance. Like when we mow the grass to much. Given enough time and space it can recover. I am so locking forward to the fall, when I can add to the CO2 levels with composting leaves and dried grass. I am so sick and tired of the high CO levels from the mowing of the grass. Carbon dioxide does smell so much sweeter does it not? Does anyone have a hungry goat that we can use. I haven’t seen any deer.
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