Out On The Lawn

Mid June; school is out, summer is here. How glorious to spend time luxuriating on the lawn.

It is nice to be outside when the air is soft and warm and the ground is soft with grass. We, in Maine, have moss and ferns to add to the softness of the landscape. We are incredibly lucky to have water enough to keep our scenery green and lush. This is not the case for much of our country and for much of the world.

Having a lawn during the early days in the United States meant you kept grazing animals near your house. Colonial Americans brought from Europe the idea of an in-town common area, sometimes called the town green, also for grazing animals and socializing. They remembered well European royalty. As a symbol of their status, they established luxurious lawns; hand cut using a scythe and tended by servants or slaves. These lawns represented dominance. Their property outside their homes was as opulent and under their control as the inside. 

The finest gardens of the British elite often were walled, not only to ensure their private use but to protect the eyes of the Lords and Ladies from the unsavory sight of the peasants as they tended the lawns and gardens of their masters. A bell hung at the gate which, when rung, alerted the gardeners that they needed to scurry out the small doors hidden by shrubbery so that the Lords and Ladies did not have their enjoyment sullied by the sight of them. 

Modern American lawns came into being during the post WWII era; when America was the leader of the free world. Fresh from a great military victory, made possible in large part by the sacrifices of the general public, Americans celebrated Themselves. Victory Gardens, where American households grew much of their food during the war, fell by the wayside.  By the 1950's, this new era brought the Industrial Age, the Age of Consumerism and Better Living Through Chemistry to a frenzied height. Our American culture was shaped by advertising for suddenly, we all had TV's and magazines. Bill boards lined the highways since we all had automobiles to read them from. Our full support for big business was fueled by their cultivation of our desire to have all the well deserved spoils our dominate culture could claim. 

Suburbs spread across the American landscape and each family now had it's own lawn and began to luxuriate; competing with their neighbors for status with possessions and lawns. 

We are into a new Century. History may well define this era as one of violence, sickness and poisoned resources. These horrors are inspiring flashes of sanity and reason, for round the edges of the competitive lawn culture is a growing trend. Family food gardens are coming back because there is a new war going on and there are shortages of food again. The grocery stores are full of products but the general population is becoming aware. The hidden truths of: the poor nutritional quality in our food supply, the hidden toxins in household, health and beauty products and the psychological effects of aggressive advertising are becoming common knowledge.

We are 4 or 5 generations into the 1950's style Industrial Age, Age of Consumerism and Better Living Through Chemistry. Our culture is experiencing strange diseases, obesity, learning disabilities, diabetes, asthma, strange allergies and reproductive health complications at an alarming rate.  It's not our fault that our health and our world have been compromised. The naivete of the 1950's has persisted, until now.

Advertising thoroughly shaped our habits for at least 100 years. Our educational system has not strengthened our intellects to protect us from this blatant, psychological attack. The emotional upheaval of women and minorities in the late 1960's and 70's against the ego of the dominate white male, did not reveal to the masses how dominated by industry and advertising our culture had become. This new Century will bring an end to the naivete our culture has suffered, an intellectual upheavel is underway. We, the people, are becoming aware of the truth; Big Business, dominated by the Chemical Industry, cannot be trusted with our health and safety any more than Irish garden slaves could look to the British elite for comfort and fairness. 

Radical as the emotional upheaval of the 1960's and 70's was, the intellectual upheaval will be even more liberating.  The reclaiming our lawns has begun. Family Food Gardening is happening again. Sustainable practices are being taught in educational systems, both at the elementary and at the college levels, all over our country. The monoculture lawn is loosing it's appeal now that we know chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are an expense well beyond their cost. They are dangerous for children and all living things. We are learning ways to be safe and comfortable without them. 

The digital age fueling the intellectual age. That Scott's Lawn Care commercial character, 'Scott', is looking pretty foolish as he tells us to feed our lawns with his crappy chemistry. Let's tell him nah, we're all set. We don't need it, don't want it, quit making it. Let's turn off the TV and spend quality time watching our lawns 'go meadow'. Then, Victory will be Ours not because of our world dominance, because of our intellectual understanding of our world.