Yardwork

If you walk around any neighborhood in the U.S., you will undoubtedly discover the pros and cons of maintaining one's lawn. There is a wide variety. On the most upper scale, you can see the lawns that look like they're the demo for Southern Living: bright green grass, tediously edged driveway and sidewalk, and nary a weed anywhere to be seen. On the flipside, one may see grass high enough to hide snakes, a veritable ecosystem of weeds and weedy flowers galore, and a collection of household items including kids possessions strewn across the lawn. If you look at my yard, you will see a landscape somewhere in the middle. I have the weeds and flowers, no junk on the lawn, and a huge brown patch of mulch in the middle, the remnants of a tree stump ground up last month.
For the most part, I don't like yardwork. I don't understand the necessity of making one's lawn so pristine that the owner is subtly communicating to his neighbors, "I have the best lawn on the block." For me, if a lawn is green and cut periodically, that's all that matters. I will admit that the opulence of my crabgrass is an eyesore, I have never fertilized (until recently to try to get some grass growing on the brown patch), and using my weed whacker is not a high priority. I also think that fertilizer is bad for the environment, such as ruining the waterways and killing crabs. I tried fertilzing but realize I will need additional help to at least get the front lawn looking green again. The back yard has a lot of dirt spots, I will tend to that down the road. I do appreciate the self powered mower that I got a few years ago (thanks Mom) that makes the yard work much easier. I will also admit that I did purchase a battery powered mower before that and tried using it to mow but the yard is too big for the battery to hold up, and I'm not making that up. I also have a push mower. To be truthful, I didn't want a gas powered mower because it contributes to global warming, and that is the honest truth. I realize that the gas mower is a necessity to keeping the grass short. I considered buying an electric mower with cord but that can be dangerous if you're not extra diligent about the mowing pattern.
For now, Susie and Dickie will help me with the fertilizing and I'll toil away mowing the lawn once every 7 days (approximately). As for the neighbors on the block whose lawn puts me to shame, I wanted to add that my propery taxes didn't decrease because my lawn is a semi mess.