Put it off

There is a huge difference in appearance between my front lawn and my back lawn.  I spend much more time in my backyard than I do in my front yard but spend more time cutting my front lawn and trimming the edges, or weeding, spraying for weeds than I ever do with my back lawn, if you can even call what’s in my backyard a lawn.

It seems counterintuitive and in some respects illogical to worry so much about the looks of an area that I don’t seem to enjoy as much.  I do like the way my front yard looks.  I like the expansive lawn area, (the word expansive is a relative term used in comparison to other lawns in the area and does not denote any attempt to outdo the neighbors or to suggest that my lawn is better than your lawn, it’s actually filled with weeds, but their all the same shade of green, so it looks good), I like the way it complements the house. 

But I spend hours in the backyard, sitting on the patio, under the patio cover, gazing across the open field, just enjoying what I have and not being that concerned that the weed infested area that is my backyard is not up to par with my front yard.  There is so much that I could do to make it better, make it more pleasing to the eye but since it’s not a priority, very little gets done toward that end.

I’ve looked at others backyards and it seems to be an acceptable pattern for many of us to be more concerned about what others see rather than what we choose to live with.  As long as my front yard is in shape I really don’t have to care about the junk pile in the back.  The problem arises when there is nothing of value in the front or the back. 

Also like many of you, I get pangs of guilt, most easily set aside, regarding what I should be doing to improve my entire life but the rationalizations and excuses are always more accessible than the motivation needed to act; my backyard stays the same.  And as a true measure of my inability to focus my attentions where they need to be, I am in my scruffy looking backyard, sitting under my dirty patio cover, writing this blog about not wanting to do what I know I should.  Talk about a rationalization. 

But it is a nice day, perfect Fall weather in Southern California, I did cut the weeds this morning, so I am not a total ne’er-do-well.  I can get to it tomorrow, maybe…The question that needs to be asked is, how many tomorrows do we have left?  Does it really matter, especially in the grand scheme of things? 

I think it does matter.  it seems to matter to our politicians and actors and it matters to all those who have nice front lawns.  But since no one can really see my backyard, I can let it slide, living in a façade, as many of us do, spending our time to impress people we don’t even know so that we can hide away in the weeds, blogging and telling everyone else what to do.  I just realized I have a perfect life, that is until my wife gets home and notices that I haven’t done a damn thing all day, I guess I better sweep away some of the cobwebs, or pick up last weeks trash that escaped from the bin… but not now, maybe in an hour or so…