Almost two weeks of rain: e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g..i.s..g.r.o.w.i.n.g! Thankfully there have been the few odd moments when the sun breaks out long enough for us to do something about the lawn that seems to grow an inch a day. Yesterday was one of those rare moment: Faith manned (womaned?) the lawn mower while I weed-whacked and roto-tilled. Zeke organized his collection of tennis balls on the off chance that we might be interested in tossing one.

The garden plot is slightly bigger this year...less to mow, more produce? I'm doing "something" around the fish pond which may or may not involve any of the following: herb garden, rock garden, bigger pond (and deeper so they can winter there), deck extension w/hot tub, wind break, decorative stone. Yes, any or all or none of that, but something.

I've always thought lawns were a fantastical waste of time. I still do, but now I know that they are also a defense mechanism. As the shoe shows, anything not moving in New Hampshire is fair game in the war of vegetation. If you don't diligently mow and trim, the woods will close in and reclaim it all.

There are houses in town at various stages of this process. First the trees close in and grow taller, putting the house in perpetual shade. Without sun and wind the surfaces of the house begin to break down: paint peels, shingles sprout, wood sags, and everything becomes darker and damper. Roots work under sidewalks, driveways, and into foundations. Cement buckles and breaks down. A chance root will hit the septic system setting off a flurry of growth like gas thrown on a fire. Animals and bugs move in and use the soft wood for snacks and bedding.

Sometimes there will be a change in players. Whatever litigation or neglect that left the house empty gets cleared up and the house is rented out. Usually to a group of transient bachelors in the construction trade who, despite whatever expertise or skill they have, pretty much ignore everything until the landlord makes a fuss or kicks them out.

However it works out the house will be even worse for the experience. It will be as if they had been hired by nature to speed along the deterioration.

The land owner cuts his losses and sells to an energetic young couple. They'll hire a local contractor and his transient bachelor construction team to tear down the old building, bulldoze the woods back a decade or two, and build a fresh new house in the sunny, airy center. The young couple will mow and trim religiously, taunting the woods with little bark mulch beds of blossoms and ornamental bushes.

The next owners, fresh up from Boston or the Mid-west, will mow the whole lawn once or twice and decide it is way too much work. Each year they will let it slide a bit more. The woods, patient as ever, begins its inward trek anew.

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