RIVER CITY JOURNAL: YARD PRIDE IS FIRST STEP TO A BETTER -- AND TIDIER -- WORLD

Anyone who mows when necessary and trims the hedges is a good person. These folks deserve -- and get -- special recognition.

There are two things I want to mention this week, both having to do with this newspaper.

One is the well-tended yards that are pictured from time to time -- the ones that win awards from the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

I am a great admirer of a yard that speaks well of the inhabitants who reside in the accompanying house. I like looking at the pictures of winning yards, because they show not just the results of consistent effort, but also a bit of the pride folks take in their surroundings.

Cape Girardeau is, by and large, a community of mowed lawns. Over the years, I have discovered that this is not a universal trait. I can remember neighbors -- in other towns far, far away, of course -- who were not so mindful of the neighborhood's beauty and charm. On the other hand, my entire family can tell you story after story about Mr. Kluth, our neighbor back in the 1970s, who took it personally if one blade of grass grew higher than all the others. Honest to goodness, we all have seen him mow his entire lawn twice in the same day.

There is a retired gentleman who is a neighbor of my mother's in my favorite hometown in the Ozarks west of here. There is never a sprig out of place in his yard, and we've all seen him rake leaves several times a day during the fall.

Call these people compulsive if you want, but I attribute tidy lawns to a good upbringing and a sense of duty to all the neighbors.

Some lawns are pretty because they are tended so lovingly. Others capture the eye because of the intriguing landscaping. I say fancy landscaping is wonderful icing, but a sharp mower blade is the backbone of a well-mannered society.

My younger son used to spend his summers mowing other people's lawns. He took a great deal of pride in the quality of his work. And he made a lot of money. Now that he is an adult -- living in an apartment building with no lawn to worry about -- he continues to measure the passing landscape in terms of mowing manhours.

"Look at that fantastic house and lawn," I'll say as we drive by some estate from the pages of Home and Garden magazine.

"Seven hours, plus trimming," he'll respond.

A couple of summers ago I offered to mow other people's lawns, since we were living in an apartment. Some friends took me up on the deal, and they will never know how much I enjoyed breathing the dust and staining my shoes with grass clippings. They still think I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not.

Anyway, my hat's off to all the winners of the yard awards. You deserve the recognition, and you need to know you have at least one stalwart admirer.

The other thing I want to mention is the letters to the editor this newspaper has been receiving in recent weeks. Have you noticed?

I can't say I agree with all the letter writers, but I can say I appreciate them and the give-and-take they generate. Yes, some writers tend to saw on the same log for an awful long time, but if it's important to them, more power to them.

I'm just glad readers recognize the fundamental importance of letters to the editor, both as the bedrock right to have your say in a free country and as a means of informing the rest of us about certain issues.

Not every letter that is written is published. I try to explain to the writers in those rare instances that some topics aren't suitable. For example, I don't think we should retry lawsuits in a letter, and I'm not too interested in letters whose only purpose is to belittle an individual or a business or a community organization.

But most readers don't resort to that. They have something they want to say, and they say it.

Good.

Keep the letters coming.

You can even write a letter about all the pretty lawns in town, if you want.

~R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.