243: Grazing in the grass

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the
journey-work of the stars.

~ Walt Whitman

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.

~ Henry Miller

I took my walk early this morning.  The weather, although somewhat cool and damp, reminds me more of summer than of spring.  That could be because the boats and swim platform are now in the water.  Or it could be because of the summer-like heat and humidity of the past few days that brought the thunderstorms barreling through the area last night.

Cattails or bullrushes. Not a true grass, but sometimes referred to as a wetland grass.

I am never quite sure what I will end up seeing or focusing on when I step outside.  Some days there is no focus.  I meander around, eyes flitting from here to there, ears taking in the sounds, nose registering the scents, skin feeling the temperature and humidity.

Today I found myself admiring the grasses.  The colors, the textures, and the varieties.  I wonder how many different types of grasses are growing around Breezy Acres.

If you get down on the ground near or in the areas that are not mowed, you can see whole worlds in the grasses.  Miniature jungles, wetlands, rain forests, prairies, and even alien-like worlds seem to exist within the grasses.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

~ The Gospel According To Zen

Grass is the forgiveness of nature — her constant benediction.
Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers vanish,
but grass is immortal.

~ Brian Ingalls

Another day it occurred to me that time as we know it doesn’t exist in a lawn, since grass never dies or is allowed to flower and set seed.  Lawns are nature purged of sex or death.  No wonder Americans like them so much.

~ Michael Pollan, Second Nature, 1991

Most of our grasses are never mowed.  We mow some pathways here and there, but the majority of it is allowed to grow as it will.  I’m not sure the neighbors, who all have great swaths of lawns that they mow just about every other day, approve.

Oh well.

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