August 2022 – The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side…or is it?
by Edward Blanchette
Recently I had a nice conversation with an out-of-state couple, from Phoenix Arizona as I recall. It was only for a short few minutes, as we waited to mutually enter a point of interest. What started as a polite conversation, soon gave me food for thought. During our conversation, we wandered onto the subject of weather and geography, as most conversations tend to go from time to time. The gentleman from Arizona had commented on how nice the weather was here and how “green” everything was, here in “Amish Country”- Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His wife nodded in agreement and commented that it was very beautiful, whereas Arizona was lots of browns and drab, and that it must be nice to live here.
I looked around and took a visual note of our immediate surroundings and said, “Yes, it’s nice here I must agree, even as we experience our heat wave”. But then stated that I remember Phoenix as a youngster, I was about ten then, and my Father had moved the family from Houlton Maine to Phoenix Arizona for a job opportunity. The stint lasted about three months, then we moved back to Maine. But the beauty and wonder of what was new to me then, was an experience for me at that time, to be pretty awesome. New surroundings, Horned Lizards and other wildlife, and the people we met along the way. Specifically, I remembered that at a point, while we were in Phoenix, it had snowed in the evening. Now in Maine and Pennsylvania too, we see lots of snow, that’s for sure. But it was different for some reason here, at this moment, in this place. How short-lived but beautiful it was, for in the morning the snow was gone. Only the last remnants of that evening’s snow were remaining in those beautiful mountains the next morning. As a youngster, I’m sure you could understand my disappointment and my wonder.
My point is, that we often think of how great things would be, to live elsewhere, instead of appreciating what is right here in front of us within our own backyard. It’s said, “The grass is greener on the other side.” The other side of what? Don’t get me wrong, In my younger years, I was known as an “Air fern”, not a plant with stable roots. I was all over the United States and beyond. But appreciation is always where the heart is, as is the home. All things are relevant when we become a part of a community. But dreaming is okay, too. Something to ponder, I guess, but the grass is fine right here, as it is.
Be safe, be well, and stay positive.