I have a crazy old uncle that always gives me grief about cutting my lawn. He claims that I'm a thief because there are tons of neighborhood kids in need of $30-$40 for cutting my grass. He claims I might as well rob the neighborhood kids at gunpoint for my selfishness. When you factor in the cost of my riding mower, weedeater, blower, edger, sprayer, fuel, oil, weedeater string, etc., I think he may have a point. The time spent at the task reinforces his claim. Tom, inshore fishing in eastern North Carolina is suffering. I believe we have a much more serious lawn fertilizer and weed killer runoff problem than we realize. As a youngster, I remember quail hunting in eastern NC. We would hunt around Hyde County (way east and low ground). We hunted high-grass areas around field edges and ditch banks. Now, these areas are deemed ugly. Simple aesthetics has killed the primary (and most huntable) quail cover, so now there are no wild birds to even hunt. That grass also protected against a lot of runoff that's now able to easily access our waterways. Vince, you're so right when you call this laborious upkeep a scam!
