Even though it was my mother's last day visiting, I had neglected my lawn for entirely too long, so I woke up "early" and mowed it. Well, the front yard, anyway. My strategy early in the summer was to mow the front every week or so, and the back every other week or so. Last weekend I mowed the back after a brief 4-5 weeks of being "too busy".

So I mowed and edged, and as I was heading to put the mower away I noticed some crabgrass growing in a spot that I'd seeded early in the summer. Upon further inspection, about 90% of the area was overgrown. I'd raised that grass from seeds until they were tall enough to be cut, and they'd been around for the weed and feed treatment that I had applied. They seemed to be doing fine on their own, so I'd quit watering them, like my other grass. Apparently their roots weren't strong enough to ward off the weeds, crabgrass in this case.

The allegory evident to me was a parental one: a parent can't just let his kids "raise themselves"—they require constant supervision, care, and feeding, otherwise undesirable influences and habits take effect to the child's detriment. This allegory likely continues to apply even in college, depending on how strong a kid's roots (principles, in this case) are.

A different but lawn-related topic: people letting their grass grow in the cracks in their driveway is a huge pet peeve of mine. It's endemic to my neighborhood. The bad cases have the "crack grass" as long or longer than the grass in their lawn! A little Roundup does wonders, people.

One thing about summer that I liked is that people leave their garage doors open for everyone to see. When I see my neighbors' garages, I always feel better about my own mess of a garage. Comparatively it's not that bad!