A poem for our neighbor…
My yard has no deciduous trees in it whatsoever. The only leaves we get are those that blow from our neighbors to the north. Last fall, our neighbor to the south had a good crop of leaves and we asked her if we could rake them to jump in them. She said sure, but what I didn’t realize (I learn everything about home and lawn care - no, about everything in life - the hard way) is that the pile we left killed her grass over the winter. I felt horrible come spring time. So this year we were gonna make it up to her, but her tree left no leaves! So we wrote a poem and gave her a nice indoor, non-shedding plant along with it. Before the server crash I asked for suggestions for the last line. This is what we ended up with…
Last year you shared your leaves with us;
We jumped and played with glee.
But we made a big mistake;
We left them there to freeze.
When winter passed and spring arrived,
We were ashamed and grieved.
A great big dead spot in your lawn;
We spied regretfully.
So we planned that when the leaves
Fell again this year,
We would rake and bag and haul,
Your leaves away for sure.
Be that as it may today,
Your tree refused to play.
Your grass grew back in spite of us;
We’re glad and want to say:
Please forgive our oversight
For leavings a year ago.
We never meant to kill your turf;
We just wanted you to know.
We hope this plant will bring you joy;
Its blooms will chase away the gray.
We thank you for your neighbor-ness,
And pray “God bless you everyday!”