the grass is always greener

the weekend turned out worse than anticipated. in addition to the usual chores, we also cleaned the pool filters. normally, the filters are a quarterly ordeal. Sunday, they were cleaned out of necessity because it appeared the system was clogged. El Jefe’ stated if we called in a repairman, the first question asked would be if the filters were clean. we cleaned the filters, and el Jefe’ only had to make one trip for pool supplies, and now the system has pressure. the only trade-off was our time, and we weren’t able to carve jack-o-lanterns.

i awoke Sunday morning very early, stewing about our back yard, and wasn’t able to get back to sleep. we live in the desert. when we first “landscaped” our back yard in early 1998, less than half of the minimal square footage (not acreage by any means) was dedicated to grass. as the years passed, we made modifications to the landscaping, each time reducing the amount of lawn. by the time we built the pool in the fall of 2000, approximately 350 square feet of lawn remained. and since that time, we have struggled to keep those piddly 350 square feet alive. we have resodded at least once, maybe twice. ok, admittedly the lawn has not been fertilized in a couple years, and we religiously follow watering restrictions, which means occasionally we can be watering three times a week when daily temps are consistently in triple digits. i think approximately 20 square feet of lawn remains. the rest is dirt. and Punkin wanders across the dirt to get to that remaining patch of grass.

i broached this subject with el Jefe’ during breakfast Sunday morning. we have resodded before, but obviously it was unsuccessful. that was pre-Punkin, when we had more than two hours a day to labor together. i am convinced the ground needs to be tilled, regraded, and additional top soil added. i offered to pay to hire someone to do it. El Jefe’ doesn’t want to spend the money, even if it is my money. and he doesn’t lose sleep over it, either. he has offered his weekend time to accomplish the lawn replacement. so now, instead of spending Saturdays working overtime at his paying job, he’ll work Saturdays at home in the backyard.

ok. i’m a cynic. i predict we’ll have 40 square feet of lawn this time next year.