Rain Over Me

I've been doing a little research on water tables. Last summer and into the fall, North Carolina began experiencing one of the more extreme droughts in recent memory. Not until just the past month have levels in local reservoirs returned to normal. Jordan Lake (which feeds us in Cary) is now "one foot above full" according to the Raleigh News & Observer. I don't know about you, but "one foot above full" means water is spilling over the edge of the lake! Get the sandbags and water-wings ready, right? Apparently not - I guess "full" is sort of arbitrary. If there are any reservoir experts out there who can clue me in, please do so.

Anyway, like I was saying, I've been reading up on water tables (phreatic surfaces to those who are "in"), because they are still low. Likewise, we continue to run a rainfall deficit of eight inches since January of 2007. We're operating in the red, which explains why my grass isn't green.

I've become a bit of a farmer of sorts in the past couple months. Yes, a grass farmer. When we bought our house, the front yard was basically a wasteland because the seller never took care of it. That sort of thing can play into your favor when negotiating price...

...until you have to revive it.

Fortunately, we've had plenty of regular rain since the beginning of 2008; we're already two inches higher than normal since March 1st. Now I'm contemplating digging some little irrigation channels through the front yard to retain water. It's a vicious cycle, this grass stuff: you need grass roots to absorb rain water, but you can't get grass to grow - and thus develop roots - if you can't retain the water. By now, you're probably wondering why I'm so passionate about this.

It's pretty simple: one of our neighbors has a phenomenal lawn, just like green carpet. Sure, I have great admiration and respect, but I can't stand being outdone! I'm looking for the biggest come-from-behind yard victory our neighborhood has ever seen!

I'd appreciate it if you'd post any grass tips or rescue ideas - call it "fescue rescue". Okay, no, don't call it that - that's a very lame joke...but I bet the grass farmers out there are laughing.

Woah! And time flies by...

I get a bit of a chuckle every time I look at date of my previous post: January 26th! What the heck?!

You know how, upon realizing that life just moves so fast, people make the oh-so-wise observation that "time flies"? I get that a lot where I work. It's a dynamic environment - constantly changing (I'm sure everyone can relate) - so it really does feel like the pages of the calendar keep flipping. Well, I started responding to that observation with, "and then you're dead."

That'll get an odd look. "Time flies and then you're dead." Go ahead and use that line the next time someone makes the "time flies" observation and see what looks you get.

Sure, most people don't want to confront their own mortality - certainly not standing around the watercooler at 8:30 on a Monday morning. I have to say, though, that maybe we'd all do some things differently if we did recognize that time waits for no one. Is carpe diem just a fun phrase to jockey around, or a core principle by which you lead your daily life? And what does seizing the day really look like for you?

Why do we do what we do? Being a business guy, I tend to look at things from the opportunity cost perspective: if I do this, I can't do that. "If I read this book for an hour, I can't mow the grass," and vice versa. Most of us probably do what we do (go to work, do chores, go to school) because we "have to". What does it take to spin "have to" into "want to"? And what do we sacrifice by choosing what we do?

One of my all-time favorite films is The Shawshank Redemption. The day before he escapes prison, Andy Dufresne tells his buddy Red, "get busy living, or get busy dying." Now, there's some wisdom - and a little less morose than "time flies and then you're dead."

Well, that's it for now. I "want to" go mow my grass because if I don't, we'll have the worst looking lawn on the street (hmm...we'll have to talk about keeping up appearances another day!)