Do you covet what the “other guy” has? Is the grass always greener? Literally?
I ran across this article in the New York Times, which elicited a chuckle at first, then interest, and finally, a flicker of concern. A chuckle because lawns in Phoenix, Arizona are being sprinkled with green paint rather than water. Interest, because necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes. For some, the desire to possess the appearance of lush grass is greater than (what I consider) common sense – acceptance of another sort of beauty.
And the concern?
I’m all for going green, but I don’t think this is quite what the Green Movement is about. In fact, I suspect it’s going in the opposite direction.
When did we become a culture of so much artifice? Has it always been the case, but we tend not to notice when we’re younger?
Of course we clear lands to grow food and build homes. We are driven to explore. Natural landscapes are sacrificed to industry. Histories are filled with peoples who seek to tame nature. Yet something in this scenario seems stereotypically American, preoccupied with fighting nature in so many respects: natural beauty, natural landscapes, the natural effects of aging.
Caring about the “wrong” things
Who am I to judge what is right or wrong for others to care about? Who am I to determine what is enhancement versus obsession?
It’s not my place.
As for the neighborhoods of Phoenix, apparently painting isn’t the only option as the article points out, where homeowner’s associations levy considerable fines for improperly maintained yards – either green, or desert-landscaped. Plastic turf is the choice of some, though costly, while others do their utmost by rotating types of grass and providing constant irrigation.
The implications on water use are evident (natural landscaping or, for that matter, artificial turf are more conservationally friendly), but “grass people” and “desert people” continue to square off:
Marty Campisi, who runs Desert Oasis Landscape Design and Concepts in Phoenix, has desert in his backyard and promotes the natural approach, reminding customers that many municipalities offer financial incentives to those who convert from grass. “The ones who want lawns are mostly the ones with kids,” he said. “I tell them that children can play in a desert landscape, as long as you stay away from anything with thorns.”
While I can understand that a lush lawn is potentially pleasurable for children, city dwellers have no such back yard for their kids, and they understand the trade-offs of an urban environment. What of the trade-offs in our arid states? Can’t we see the positives of the beauty that exists?
Do you fight nature?
I wonder why we battle against what is natural with such a vengeance; insisting on certain things – for the human body, for our surrounding terrain, even our temperaments.
Just because we “can” – should we?
Perhaps it’s voluminous breasts for the 30-year old who wants to feel more attractive, babies for the 50-year old who is desperate to conceive, the ability to rock on for hours, for the 65-year old, thanks to a little blue pill. Maybe it’s insisting that everyone “be happy” or at least, not outwardly sad.
Maybe it’s insistence on the color green for our yards. But does any of this actually make sense? How much responds to a true desire or need on the part of the individuals involved? How much is a matter of that elusive set of “shoulds” that originate in envy, in media, in evolving social expectations that consume us?
We have grown weird ideas with our strange pseudo-grasses. I laud the ingenuity of those who come up with solutions to their challenges, and I wonder why we don’t put our inventiveness into caring for the environment as it is, for our bodies as they are, for our communities, as they could be.
Naturally.
- Do you fight your natural moods and temperament?
- Do you struggle with natural body type or cultural expectations of beauty?
- Do you fight aging in ways that are healthy, or artificial?
I love your posts. Look forward to every new one. You write from the core. This one was exactly what I thought when I read the article, but you took it farther. Really great. Thank you 🙂
Jan – Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. (Just peeked at your blog. I think I’m going to be a regular visitor!)
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to the southwest for some much needed sunshine and a few more miles on Route 66 for my bucket list (along with some wonderful Mexican food). Driving through some neighbourhoods, green lawns stand out as being out of place to my eye. Anybody that would choose a painted lawn over native plantings has a warped view of ecology, ditto for using resource-intensive artificial turf, going green the right way means not fighting nature, it means working with her.
The same applies to an aging body, pharmaceuticals and surgery are a godsend for people with real health problems; their use in slowing down aging paradoxically produces ugly monsters, one look at the “Real Housewives” shows is proof of that (materialism and narcissism add to the ugliness for me). With the caveat that these choices are generally easier when you are not dealing with severe health problems, I try to fix my lifestyle rather than treat symptoms of an unhealthy lifestyle. This approach tends to build on itself through self-reinforcing improvements, stress is easier to handle, sleep is more restful and an active lifestyle becomes normal.
I’m enjoying your observations on various topics, batticus, including your experience of the US Southwest.
You also make a distinction that I believe in – the notion of “real” health problems. Plastic surgery, for example is – as you say – a godsend for some people, and medications for those with severe depression or a chemical imbalance, equally so. While I wouldn’t want to be the one to judge who should or shouldn’t take advantage of these advancements, I do think that both are examples of knee-jerk responses – treating symptoms with whatever placates temporarily, mask what is real with what is artificial; do not delve further to unearth root causes. We live in a culture that not only considers this behavior increasingly normal, but the result, collectively, is that the “regular humans” with moods and variations feel deficient. And, our view of what is normal is being distorted.
I’ll keep my moods, thank you. And my imperfections as well. They tell the stories that are part of my life. And that seems natural – to me.
Paint? Really? You come across the best stuff. Sounds like something out of Edward Scissorhands.
We live in an arid state, and a lot of people do some form of xeriscaping. But I must say, I don’t think it’s very kid-friendly. Who wants to play in brown, scratchy stuff?
Ha! We’ll sick Edward Scissorhands on the plastic turf and the painted grass! Perfect, Kitch!
I live in AZ as you know BLW and I had not run across this story. But for some reason, I could believe that people in AZ would paint their lawns in order to create the grass effect.