This is a tale of two yards in my neighbourhood.
One yard is a showcase. Green grass? Check. Edged and weeded flowerbeds? Check. Trimmed bushes? Check. Thoughtful plantings for visual interest in every season? Check.
One yard is a mess. Gravel ground-cover peeping out from under matted-down dandelion leaves? Check. Overgrown bushes? Check. Foot-high weeds in the gutter? Check.
These two yards are across the street from each other. The meticulous owners look out on the mess; the hapless owners look out on the showcase.
It’s such a glaring disparity in effort and standards that it makes me wonder whether I owe it to my neighbours to match their landscaping, exterior home maintenance, or holiday decoration. Meh. It’s not a great way to frame the question: Obligation doesn’t feel motivational. I have an opportunity, maybe, to give pleasure to my neighbours, just as they do for me.
This is not just a tale of two yards in my neighbourhood.
Great metaphor, Isabel! I will not send pictures of MY yard!
Jim T – IKR? My backyard, invisible to neighbours, is my own business. My front yard, strictly defined to exclude the adjacent garden around the postal boxes, looks pretty good. That “community” garden – maintained, to the extent that it is, by a few neighbours and by me, but visible to everyone when they come to get their mail – is a bigger opportunity than I can handle these days.
I grew up on a farm. My folks were always meticulous about the upkeep of the grounds. The current owners don’t seem to care what it looks like. Makes me want to stop in and say, “Don’t you even care?”
Tom
Got it in one. Imagine what the inside of their house looks like.
Barbara – Oh, I wish you hadn’t said that. Now I can’t un-imagine it.
Tom – I guess people might care about different things, but it can be frustrating, for sure.