Bare Spots-Filled!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of those high dollar coastal communities. Exiting the crowded airline terminal to meet my ride, I was concerned he might never find me, let alone find a place to stop for a minute to pick me up. Cars and passengers were criss crossing everywhere. It was a crowded, disorganized C-F, if you know what I mean...

Over the weekend, we drove through some of the area's signature open spaces. I noticed how some of these once-pristine area are being plowed under to make way for new multi-million dollar housing developments. Earth movers are making deep cuts in the hillsides, probably to prepare underground drainage systems to prevent future landsliding.

Retruning home after the weekend, flying into St. Louis, our flight path took us right over our city neighborhood and then made a swing over downtown. There were clear views of the city streets, shopping centers, parks, and downtown's landmarks. Clearly recognizable were the bright red tile roofs of our parish buiildings. We touched down at Lambert a couple of minutes later. As we flew over Dellwood and Kinloch, my seatmate was astonished at the height of the trees in the neighborhoods.

Twenty minutes earlier, my ride had arrived at Lambert. She pulled into the 5 minute curbside loading zone and there were no other cars waiting. The nice security lady granted her permission to wait as long as it would take for me to deplane and retrieve my luggage. She waited undisturbed for over thirty minutes.

Driving home, we travelled the neighborhood streets, crossing through Forest Park and then into South City. We grabbed a quick meal on the Hill, and then headed home. That's when I could see that eighty percent of the previous bare spots in the front lawn were now filled with tall growing grass. The previous barespot challenge has been reduced to a barely noticeable twenty percent of remaining tough ground.

This week, a trip to the Botanical Garden for one of their low cost pH soil tests could hold the key to winning this mini-turf war.