From the Archives of Clergy Clatter

October 2001

Those of you who have been to my house know that many years ago I decided to call it quits with grass, mowing and fertilizing, and allow the site to “re-forest” itself. In my eye, the yard today is a wonderful mini-forest of trees, ground cover, paths and native marsh plants. The down side is a lot of mosquitoes. The up side is that I rarely have to run air conditioning. The house stays amazingly cool under its canopy of trees.

But a nasty problem has arisen. My garage – my playroom – which I labored to build – has become a dining room table for termites. I started repairing trim this summer and found what I thought was “a little rotten wood.” But when I pulled it off, I discovered that for years God’s little termite critters had been quietly munching away – out of sight. Damage is significant.

“Get’em, come quick!” The bug man assured me that he could easily get rid of them for a not-so-easily digestible price, but that I would always be plagued by them until I cut down all the trees and tore up all the ground cover. Agh! And return to grass? He responded, “No – they like grass, too. Asphalt is the only answer.”

It was decision time. Do I destroy my little Eden and my whole domestic quality of life to assure the absence of destructive pests, or do I keep my yard and forever spend time, money and energy trying to control the pests? The answer was easy. I opted for the latter.

Sometimes we have to make these dreadful decisions, as homeowners, business people, parents, clergy – sometimes even as a nation.

No matter how hard I try, and how much money I spend on termite control, I’ll never be certain that a few aren’t eating my garage, and possibly even my house – causing even worse major damage. But I’d rather take that risk than trade in my little forest for a lifeless asphalt pad.

Richard+