Grass and New York City

Yesterday as I mowed the grass for my aging parents, my first thought was this would serve as a work out for me. The Yard is bumpy caused by root systems from trees and tunnels from worms. Controlling a mower over such terrain truly gives the arms wrists and hands a work out.

My second thought was, if everyone lent themselves to more manual- physical service to others i.e. yard work, walking the dog for someone house bound etc, we wouldn't need to go to a gym to work out our bodies and keep them in shape.

Finally as I jostled the mower across the thick grass I felt gratitude that I lived in a place where there was space/land for yards and gardens of our own, a place to connect with Mother Earth daily, unlike those poor folk in New York City who live in concrete and steel high rises.

They seldom get to connect to Mother Earth in everyday ways. I really don't see them rotating the schedule to mow patches of Central Park or weed or plant the gardens there. Unlike Europe where one sees the abundance of window boxes on high rises, a small box of dirt and plants in which to connect to another living thing besides a house cat. I was curious how those in cities get grounded... there is something healing about working with the land , walking in the grass, and living in spaces of green. How might their lives be different if they had the blessing of mowing the grass or raking the leaves?