31) The Look of Love

When I first moved into the duplex I'm renting, the yard could have been declared a National Weed Life Preserve. So I got busy. My first summer, I dug up the entire front yard. Did this with a shovel and went about a foot and a half deep. Then I got out a hand held 3 prong cultivator and proceeded to go through every inch of the area digging out the weeds and roots systems. Once done I re-planted grass over the whole.

Since then I have done much of the backyard as well; we have put in raised garden beds and they and the beds that came with the house have been filled with flowers and vegetables. In the back there were once a couple of apple trees. These had been cut down some time before I moved in, but they insisted on living and with the watering for the lawn and other things, they came back. This year one of them will actually be producing apples. We will also have summer and other squash, snap peas, green beans, potatos, tomatos, lettuce, carrots, kale, spinach and a variety of herbs for the kitchen. Come winter those herbs will be hanging in bunches in the kitchen ready for use and giving off a wonderful smell.

So how come? After all, I'm just a renter -- why bother? Hmmm..ask my neighbors why they bother. The folks next door to me and across the street are also renting ---- and improving their grounds as well.

The County is about to hire a Code Enforcement Officer. Think that through. If you love, or at least respect, the home, the town, and the community in which you live you work to take care of it. You don't let the grounds go to weed. You don't let buildings fall into decay. You don't see "eyesores", you see a place that just needs a little help -- rather like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. You don't need The Lawn Police, because you do what needs to be done out of respect, and love, of your home, your neighborhood, your town, your community.

The fact that we need a Code Enforcement Officer says a lot about Los Alamos ---- and nothing good.