Are You Living up to the Humanity Code?

It took me only 72 steps to look the other way.

I should have recognized the signs.

But I didn’t.

Not until I saw the sign.

The one posted at the edge of my neighbor’s property line which read that she was in violation of some town ordinance:

“All landscaping shall be maintained so that lawns, hedges, bushes, and trees shall be kept trimmed and free from becoming overgrown and unsightly.”

The sign said my neighbor had thirty days to clean up her property, or the town would fine her.

It was signed by the Lawn Police.

Sometimes in life, we have to look past the obvious, down to the root, to find the real problem.

The town had it all wrong.

In reality, it wasn’t my neighbor’s lawn that was a mess.

It was her life that was a mess.

My neighbor was in her 70’s when she moved into my neighborhood, some twenty years ago.

That makes her in her 90’s today.

She moved in alone and has been alone for all of that time.

The root of the problem is she is now ninety-something years old, and she no longer has anyone in her life to do maintenance for her.

She is too old.

She is without family.

She is alone and weak.

The town says my neighbor is not living up to code.

But I say that I, as her neighbor am the one not living up to code.

The town’s way of dealing with her is to post a sign on her property, saying she is in violation.

Giving her an ultimatum — either clean up her lawn or they will fine her. If she doesn’t pay the fine, they will do the work and then put a lien on her house for the cost.

As if her beneficiaries would take action because of this threat.

The joke is on the town, as she has no beneficiaries.

It is not my neighbor’s lawn that is in dire need of some love and care. It is my neighbor herself.

I have walked past my neighbor’s house virtually every day on my daily walk.

I am angry with myself for not recognizing the signs and never once asking her if she needed any help.

I can make a lot of excuses for why I didn’t pick up on the signs, but the reality is, I should have.

I am furious at the person who, instead of calling my neighbor to see if they could be of any help, called the town to report that she was not living up to code.

I am just as furious with myself.

It takes me exactly 72 steps each day to walk past my neighbor’s home.

Only 72 steps to look the other way.

Today, after I walk the 72 steps, I approach my own home.

I walk up to my property line and look at my lawn.

I read it.

I once had a gorgeous lawn, one of the best in my neighborhood. Kentucky Rye sod so green and thick it made you want to throw your sneakers off and walk barefoot.

Today, it is not in that shape.

Today, my lawn is saying that I am struggling.

Because I am.

There are patches of my lawn that are green, full, beautiful, and magical.

There are also spots in my lawn where weeds sprout up faster than I can pick them.

And then there are the dead spots that desperately need to be watered and reseeded.

That is an excellent read on my life right now.

There are beautiful parts of my life where everything seems like it is part of Utopia, as I am closer to the Universe as I have ever been.

There are parts of my life where some problems erupt and spread faster than weeds ever could. These weeds require nearly all of my attention.

And then there are the dead spots.

Spots where beautiful green grass once was but is no longer.

I wonder what people see when they look at my lawn.

I wonder if I am living up to code.