Turf Wars
To seed, or not to seed, that is the question.
To turf, not to turf, that is the alternative.
We have a patch of bare ground in the garden — a remnant of the garage that once stood in that exact position. In order to look less of an eyesore, we needed to deal with it, rather than to ignore it. The question was, after 6 months of ignoring it, why am I suddenly so impatient as to want to turf it? Why, in the heat of the moment, do I want to press the fast-forward button and to have grass now?
Unroll and ta-da, lawn fixed.
Abracadabra unfurl and grass happens.
Expelliarmus, transformation complete!
After six months of indecision, I then want the solution in six minutes (or however long it takes to unroll rolls of grass. I don’t know, because after my moment of instantaneous madness, I realised that turf delivery was both expensive, not important (given the current circumstances) and that I really didn’t need to press the fast-forward button after prevaricating for so long.
In not wanting to test your patience, I will cut to the chase and tell you that we went for seed. The box promised a week! That was all the box was asking for, a week! 7 days, 168 hours, 10,068 minutes, 604,800 seconds and I would see green, not brown! If I could just distract myself then surely, I could wait!
I did, or more accurately I have. A smattering of green has already reared. A light sprinkling of grass is spreading across the patch. But there is a renewed pleasure in watching it grow, there is a pleasure in spotting the difference each day, there is the satisfaction of being patient, rather than impatient.
Our Amazon-Primed generation want the turf now, not the seeded grass later. Our emotional brain is demanding and dominating the more rational brain that is saying ‘it’s just grass, no rush’.
Our Netflix-Craved generation wants the turf now, not the seeded grass later. Episode two to be watched immediately after episode one — rather than ‘next week’. Series two straight after series one. And yet, ‘it’s just grass, no rush’.
Our media-driven Prime Minister wants the turf now, not the seeded grass later. Sending teachers back into the classroom before it is even safe enough to see their own parents in their own houses. And yet ‘it’s just grass, no rush’.
How have we lost our ability to wait our turn, enjoy the unfolding of nature, the genuine excitement of episode two next week, the moment when we can safely return to loved ones and work?
I believe that it is because we are allowing our emotional brains to take control, yet they are irrational. We have lost the trust of our rational brains, yet they are more patient.
There is real pleasure in allowing things to develop slowly, to allow nature to take its course, to allow the natural rhythms to return.
Slow down, enjoy the moment, take pleasure in patience.
