If it’s summertime, it means that our neighbor across the street is in his glory. This is a man who spends at least 10 hours per week on his lawn and garden. (Meanwhile, we spend the absolute bare minimum required to keep our lawn from looking like a jungle and the weeds from completely taking over the garden.) But this neighbor…well, I’ll just say that he must really love his yard. He has more attachments for his lawn tractor than I even knew existed. He has set up an elaborate roving sprinkler system for those dog days of summer, in order to keep the grass lush and perfectly kelly-green. He washes his driveway and garbage cans weekly (um…can I just admit that we’ve never done this?). The man is – can I say it? – obsessed.

(Now, don’t go comparing lawn work to blogging. Just because I happen to spend a few hours per week on my blog does not mean I am obsessed. Blogging is a healthy pastime. Spending 10 hours a week on your lawn…that’s just, you know, weird.)

And I have to admit that when it’s 9:00 p.m. and I’ve tucked my kids in bed and am just settling down for a few quiet moments with a good book, and the mower across the street roars to life and, with headlight gleaming, begins its thatching/aerating/mowing/whatever, I get a tiny bit bothered. And when it’s Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and the man has had the mower or other assorted lawn machinery running for 6 hours straight, I am more than ready for a break from the noise.

But on the other hand, part of me can really admire this lawn-crazed neighbor of ours. I mean, he has decided that his lawn is important to him and he cares for it…well, excellently. No half-hearted mowing job, no dirty tractor blades at the end of the day (they are carefully hosed off after each marathon yard-maintenance event). No bare spots, brown spots, overgrown spots, or gopher holes. The man is committed. And his lawn is absolutely beautiful.

And so, while I would at times like to march over there and ask him to please, please shut that thing off, instead I will try to see his activity as a challenge. A challenge to approach the things that are important in my life with equal commitment. A challenge to strive for excellence when it comes to my priorities. A challenge to not do things half-way, but to do them to the very best of my ability.

Thanks, neighbor.