excerpt
opic of the day.
Harris was a pack rat and a collector in the extreme. His workshop in the
old Red Barn (formerly the Thames River Boathouse) was a jumble of tools
and materials—sure to contain just what you were looking for if only you
could find it. When he’d filled that space, or if the current acquisition was
too large for the workshop, it would be deposited in the yard beside Ken’s
cottage. Jeanine was remarkably patient but even she had begun to object.
Harris explained to Ken that it might be time to shift his various collections
of materials and treasures from the convenient depository of the front yard
to the barn workshop so he could plant a tidy green lawn. He indicated that
Ken’s help would be welcome, and this led to more discussion. Ken assured
Harris that he was happy to help, but in the course of their conversations, he
explained there were two things he particularly disliked. Formal lawns were
one, and white weddings the other.
I could give a pretty good hour-long lecture on how those two things
have everything to do with the way we live in North America. Nobody
had a lawn in Europe unless they were nobility; and white weddings
were restricted to Royalty. When there was this great influx of our
ancestors into North America, we kidded ourselves that we were trying
to get away from the old ways.
Really? Look what happens as soon anyone adopts the North
American way of life. They stake out a personal space and plant grass—
then the complaints begin about having to mow the grass they’ve spent
vast sums to cultivate. And every mother’s daughter wants a white
wedding.
It’s just damn silly.
During the next week or two, their morning conversations focused on
the front yard, which was overflowing with stuff that needed to be sorted out
before anything else could happen. Where to start? Ken could tolerate only
a limited period of talk without action and finally insisted that they begin
by clearing away several pallets of concrete blocks and lengths of steel that
long ago had been too good a deal for Harris to pass up.
I cannot see the merit of planting foreign grasses that require intensive
labour to establish and to care for when there are all kinds of plants…
Libros Libertad 