This morning my close friend who is going out of town for a week has asked me to water her front lawn while she’s gone. When I heard her request I must admit I laughed as it wasn’t what I’d expected. I knew this friend was a regular nurturer of her front lawn and I confess to being greener than her lawn with envy at the perfection of her grass. But somehow I thought that this friend who was so thorough at keeping her lawn looking lovely, would only entrust this job to her gardener.

When I asked her why her gardener wasn’t better at the job than I was (I wanted her to know I’m not a professional waterer; our grass manages with the minimal sprinkler system and it’s not as green as hers, alas…), she said he only comes on Wednesdays and she wanted her grass to stay healthy.

Okay, fair enough. I was game. She mentioned to me that watering grass has therapeutic value and that really clinched it for me. I now look forward to going daily to her house while she’s gone and spending relaxing time sprinkling her grass with water so she comes home to a nice green lawn.

Okay, you know a metaphor is coming her (hence, the title!). While we’re away from our homes, we often ask others to take in our mail, feed the dog or the cat if we have one, or feed the plants in our homes. All these things take time from our neighbors who are usually happy to do it for us. But there’s something special that I anticipate with watering the grass. While I stand out there in the fresh California air (Ha, smog free, right?), with the lovely mountains surrounding me, and the traffic whizzing by, I’ll know that I’m not only nurturing the grass to stay green, but I’m also nurturing a friendship.

We cannot do it alone in this world. We need to delegate to others that which we can’t do. Before leaving town there’s a lot to take care of – so that our trip is smooth, but when we have friends who take over, it makes our trip more relaxing, knowing that things are running smoothly while we are gone.

And maybe – just maybe – after I see how lovely her grass stays, I’ll head back to my own lawn and sprinkle some love and water on it as well. Because the grass doesn’t always have to be greener on the other side of the fence. We can help others and help ourselves. It takes a village, and we are not meant to do things ourselves. So go, water your lawn, help a friend if you can, and remember to nurture the grass in your lives.