Don't ask L.A. Flaneur blogger Matthew Fleischer if he knows where some good grass can be had. His post today examines his feelings toward the American Lawn, touching upon both aesthetic, environmental and political concerns. It's no love note. His lead:

“God I hate your lawn.

I've hated it ever since I learned the lawn was invented by effete British oligarchs as a way to simulate their carpets outdoors. I've hated it ever since I found out that Florida, the fifth wettest state, is running out of water because half the state is composed of sprawling, seasonal golf course villas that require year-round lawn watering.”

What apparently sent Fleischer careening toward the edge of apoplexy was an L.A. Times

piece in which “smart” strategies were discussed to allow people in

drought states such as California to cling to a piece of the green dream —

reduced watering, genetically engineered super-strains of grass, etc.

That there's been a sudden revival of the idea of building a peripheral

canal from Northern California to here has not escape Fleischer's

attention. Apparently Sean Hannity made a state appearance to support

such a pharaonic engineering project which, Fleischer says, “should tell you all

you need to know about its merits.”

But then, Hannity might

reply, building a canal to irrigate grass — from a front yard to a golf fairway — has

nothing to do with common sense or the communal good. It's all about

freedom — the freedom to pretend we don't live on a planet that's turning into a desert.

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