The Grass is Greener

The grass is greener in Sweden—literally. In a country where the summers are blink-of-an-eye-short and the ground freezes for months—months!—the grass strands are not only deliciously shamrock in colour, but delicate, dense, and butter soft under your bare feet.

Here on the East Coast of Australia, one can only dream of such things. And, being a stubborn European, I have dreamt.

I’ve kept sowing the species of grass that are the closest Swedish counterparts you can find in this sun scorched nation. The effect? Frontlawn—a haven for clover, dandelions, those thick clusters of grass I can’t remember the name of, and bindis. Backlawn, which is a sharp corner framed by Lilly Pillys that do all the growing around here—weeds, dead leaves, and bare dirt.

Over the years I’ve spread soil, scattered billions of seeds, watered, waited, added more soil other kinds of billions of seeds, watered, waited, sworn, more soil, turf laid, watered, waited, opted for vege garden, neglected, tried again, neglected, dug up, new soil, turf. You get the picture.

When the new neighbour opted for Buffalo grass, I soon had an enemy to deal with. The thick, broad leafed, spongy Goliath began to sneakily send out runners underneath the fence. Every week I had to grab my spade and go out to chop, chop, chop. Every week there were new stolons extending into the wasteland of our backyard. I was at war.

Then one day, a few years into my writer journey, this relentless Buffalo made me think of resilience. Resilience relates to STORY. It is one of the reasons I write. Though I love mystery and good twists, what captivates me is the journey of the characters. The ‘try-fail’ cycle in narrative structure is a fundamental storytelling pattern about resilience. The classic ‘Hero’s journey’ is a story of resilience. We want our characters to push through whatever antagonistic forces come at them. When our protagonist gets ‘chopped’ down but dust themselves off and go again, when they rise out of their darkest hour, so do we.

We all need resilience in this formidable world. This daunting world needs resilient people. I realised that my backyard desperately needed resilient grass. So I stopped with the chopping.

Now, two years later, the Buffalo has taken over the furthest corner. The rest of the area is still a sad affair, but in time the Buffalo will cover the entire backyard because it is relentless. However, I decided to do what I would never do for my fictional characters—offer help. 

Last weekend I ordered new soil. I shovelled, pushed, and tipped 30 wheelbarrows. After I raked it out flat, I dug up Buffalo runners from around the fence and planted them in the soil. This weekend I’ll dig up more runners and replant. In my enthusiastic mind, by Christmas, from our porch, the distant corner lawn will look lush green, if you squint.

In story, as in life, resilience is key, and I wish us all the kind that may bend under pressure but not break, the kind that keeps putting out new runners no matter how many times the chop comes. I wish you Buffalo-grass-resilience.

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