Mr. Basner - Green, Green Grass of Home

It took a couple of weeks for me to gird up my loins, so to speak, and make the walk across the street to his yard while he was working. He had never been big on starting conversations or visiting with neighbors. But somewhere I had heard the phrase, “All they can do is say no.” so I marched across the street and introduced myself with as much confidence as I could muster. 

After I told him who I was, he just glared at me. 

It wasn't going any better than I imagined. 

Then, I explained that all I wanted was to ask him a question. 

He continued to glare. 

I waited for him to give me permission. 

He glared. 

Finally, he said, “Well, what is it?” 

So, I explained about the grass and that I wasn't sure what to do next. 

He looked at me like I had just brought him a birthday present. The smile was so unusual it almost frightened me.

He stopped watering his grass and looked at me like a grandpa. There began an amazing friendship that was the surprise of my life. We talked every day. He told me about preparing the soil. He said I’d need to spade the ground and break up the clumps. That took a long time because it was about the consistency of concrete. He even loaned me a shovel to do the work. He also suggested watering the soil first for a few days to get some moisture in it. That made a huge difference.

He explained fertilizer, different kinds of grass seed and which seed and fertilizer was best for the area I was planting. He told me about watering the grass and what time of day to get the most value from watering. He told me to fence the area and to keep it moist enough to make it unpleasant for people to walk on the wet ground. I took some hits on that part, but after some muddy shoes and a slip or two things settled into a pretty good rhythm.

When the grass began to grow I got very excited. I hadn't ever planted anything before so the miracle of new life happened for me as a tiny patch of lawn. I treated it like it was being prepared for the Master’s Tournament, sort of. I didn't know what the Master’s Tournament was but I knew the new grass was special. I could see that. 

I monitored traffic. All incursions on the lawn were met with an enthusiastic warning that it was not yet ready for foot traffic.

When it had achieved an appropriate root system and had lost the new, baby grass look, I took down the twine fence with the little strips of white fabric hanging from it. As soon as I pulled out the stakes and watered it I went over and invited Mr. Basner to come and look at my masterpiece. He seemed very pleased at the invitation. We walked across the street together like two old friends. He looked at the lawn and then at me. A warm smile came across his face and he said, “Good job.”

Nothing could have made me happier, nothing.

©Herb Ratliff, November 9, 2012, All Rights Reserved