The smell of freshly mown grass
Freshly mown grass
As I was riding my bike today, I passed someone in the process of mowing the right of way between the sidewalk and the street. Smells usually trigger some specific memory for me, as I think they do for many (most?). Freshly mown grass always reminds me of the family cemetery.
Since this is just a small community/family cemetery, there have never been regular caretakers until a fund was recently established for this purpose. From the time I was a small child through my teenage years, the people from the community and a few far flung relatives would get together one day per year to clean up the cemetery. It would be overgrown with native grasses and when mowed the smell was always strong, but very pleasant. We would fill in any graves that were sinking, upright fallen or leaning tombstones and mow everything down to an inch or two. And then we would have a picnic lunch under a couple of post oak trees in the edge of the cemetery.
As an adult I have become more aware of our environment and how little is left undisturbed. Because there is so little land in Texas that hasn’t been plowed, overgrazed, replanted, poisoned, etc., cemeteries are one of the only places to find native vegetation. I would like to see the small local cemeteries grow without being mowed, except maybe selected areas if there is a graveside service or some other service, but I my opinion is a very small minority. Most want the cemetery to look groomed, even if only for a few days per year.
But, I still enjoy the smell of freshly mown grass. And it always takes be back to those social gatherings of my childhood.
As I was riding my bike today, I passed someone in the process of mowing the right of way between the sidewalk and the street. Smells usually trigger some specific memory for me, as I think they do for many (most?). Freshly mown grass always reminds me of the family cemetery.
Since this is just a small community/family cemetery, there have never been regular caretakers until a fund was recently established for this purpose. From the time I was a small child through my teenage years, the people from the community and a few far flung relatives would get together one day per year to clean up the cemetery. It would be overgrown with native grasses and when mowed the smell was always strong, but very pleasant. We would fill in any graves that were sinking, upright fallen or leaning tombstones and mow everything down to an inch or two. And then we would have a picnic lunch under a couple of post oak trees in the edge of the cemetery.
As an adult I have become more aware of our environment and how little is left undisturbed. Because there is so little land in Texas that hasn’t been plowed, overgrazed, replanted, poisoned, etc., cemeteries are one of the only places to find native vegetation. I would like to see the small local cemeteries grow without being mowed, except maybe selected areas if there is a graveside service or some other service, but I my opinion is a very small minority. Most want the cemetery to look groomed, even if only for a few days per year.
But, I still enjoy the smell of freshly mown grass. And it always takes be back to those social gatherings of my childhood.
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