Daddy's Home by Tony Rubino and Gary Markstein for March 25, 2012

How’s your lawn lookin’?

I don’t live my parents, but they asked me to mow their lawn yesterday before they got back from Seattle as part of a business trip. Finished about a half hour before they actually got home.

One of my life goals – so far realized – has been never to own a lawn mower. That’s why I live in a 30-story condo building.

Every year my father kept a garden. I turned over the soil. My sister planted the seeds. My brother pulled the weeds. But my father kept a garden.

Don’t ask.

I missed the sinister malevolent-looking plant in the title panel when I read the strip the first time. More great art from Gary.

It’s greening up.

This house had an odd shape little patch of grass surrounded by a curb in the back yard behind the pool. I bought a rechargable mower and used it for a year, then tore out the grass and had flagstone patios put in with a 7’ waterfall of my design in the center. I have plenty of green with citrus trees, ficus for shade, palms, cyprus, and pine (and raised beds around much of my walls with roses and much more). No grass! In font yard I have cactus and othe “native” plants (shade on my bench from prickly pear).

Apparently most of you live in the more temperate parts of the country. I’ll give it another month before putting away the snow shovels and wait for the garden shops to open.

The back is lush, green, patchy here and there… But fabulous for backyard cricket, kicking the footy around, totem tennis. The front is an embarrassment.

Our lawn is very green and has been mowed some last week. (Here in southwest Ohio, we’ve had some record warm days in the past week—mid 80s. It’s been cooler today and forecast for tomorrow, but flowering trees and shrubs are well along or spent.)