BIGGER PROBLEMS
I find the brouhaha over fescue grass on Lincoln Avenue laughable (“Fight over fescue grass,” May 30). This photo is the house due west of Bernie & Betty’s restaurant on Spring Street. The front porch and front yard are as bad as the east side of the building. I ride my bike all over town and this is the worst I’ve seen.
Bill Klein
Springfield
DIFFERENT ISN’T WRONG
I saw the picture of the grass at the home near Washington Park and wanted to run my fingers through it. When l completed a Google search about the type of grass, it seemed like a smart choice for this area. My hat goes off to the homeowner.
It reminded me of a book l read to my children when they were younger, The Big Orange Splot. A man painted his house so he could enjoy it and his neighbors freaked out and wanted him to paint it so the block looked all exactly the same. As they went to talk to him, they became more open-minded and each made a choice that was good for them. They learned that just because something is different doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s a book for children age 4-8. Sometimes we forget the lessons we learn when we are younger.
Patricia Fehr
Springfield
DO MORE
I appreciate the homeowner’s efforts to change home landscaping for the better, although all he’s really done is replace a high-maintenance grass monoculture with a low-maintenance grass monoculture. Better still would be to have a variety of grasses, forbs and shrubs suitable to the Midwest. It was pioneers that ripped up our original prairie, and it will take more pioneers like him to restore it. I realize now that I could be doing more with my yard.
Jeffrey Hobbs
Springfield
NOT CONTROVERSIAL
I live almost across the street from this home and think the lawn is lovely! I’m surprised there is any controversy.
Kevin Aldrich
Via illinoistimes.com
ANGEL IN DISGUISE
My husband and I were returning to Springfield on Sunday, June 2, from a weekend in Carmel, Indiana, when we stopped for gas on the west side of Decatur. There were repairs being done on the road in front of the Love’s and my husband came too close to the edge of the repaired curb and caused the left front tire to go flat. We hobbled to the station and my husband went inside to inquire about help to change the tire. A man close by heard him and said he would do the job. He pulled his truck next to our car and within 15 minutes had completed the change with the tools he had in his truck. When we asked his name he said, “They call me ‘fat boy,'” and I remarked that he wasn’t fat but of average size. He never revealed his real name and when we thanked him several times his responses were, “I had grandparents once” (we are 86 and 89), and “There are actually good people in the world,” He would not accept any monetary payment so my only way to honor this “fat boy” is to tell our story to Illinois Times and hope that he may see it or others who know him may call his attention to same. He was an angel in disguise and we are eternally grateful!
Camille Proud
Springfield
This article appears in Realizing the past and reimagining the future.
