It’s the height of Summer (or it feels like it lately) in the PNW.  Gone are the days of partly cloudy to partly sunny, which always seemed the same to me.  I guess when it’s gray most of the year, one must play on the glass half full/empty logic.  Also gone are the most of the months of the year where nature does all the watering for you.

It’s been all sun and pretty much all hot as of late.  Is this a drought?  Feels that way.  With no rain forecasted in the near future, my plants and especially my lawn are feeling the burn.  Literally, my lawn was starting to burn in places before I intervened.

A few weeks ago, I noticed the grass crunching loudly under my flip flops.  Okay, maybe not loud enough to hear over the audiobook in my earbuds.  I did have to take them them out to investigate the odd feeling under my feet.  Still, it was loud.  Like crumpling a paper bag.

Guilt set in.  How could I let this happen to my once lush and spongy grass?  The defiant, mohawk making green blades that thwarted my efforts to tame them had lost their fight. Now, they just looked…sad.  Lost was the bright green, energetic, and good smelling (despite allergies) organic carpet.  In its place were yellowish brown spots begging for hydration.

This would not do!  I sprang into action and had two hoses fitted with sprinkler heads in no time flat!  I concentrated my efforts on the driest patches and turned the hoses on full blast.  After a good soaking, I analyzed places that would be in crises mode next if left neglected.  Since it was hot out, I didn’t mind getting soaked trying to find the best water trajectories.  I even ran through the sprinklers like I used to as a kid and laughed and spun around in circles.  I think I’ve mentioned that my neighbors probably think I’m bonkers.  That’s okay.  Their lawns aren’t looking the best either.

After the immediate crises was addressed, I have remained diligent in watering enough, but not so much that I would be deemed to waste water.  There are only suggested watering restrictions right now, but best to comply for the greater good.  This does require more lawn monitoring though and obvious strategy of sprinkler placement and ranking of need.

Now, in the evenings, one can find me darting around the yard, snagging the sprinkler, waving it over flower beds, and then repositioning it elsewhere to do green good.  We currently have two sprinkler heads.  One does a crazy circular pattern with multiple nozzles that cross streams (good thing I’m not a Ghost Buster), but doesn’t have as far of a reach.  I set this one up, then go turn on the water.  It’s best to stay away from crazy.  You only get soaked.  Truth.

The other sprinkler is your old fashioned, make a big arc in one direction and then switch and go back the other way kind.  There must be a proper name for this, but I’m too tired at the moment to Google it and lately it’s been more fun to ponder than to Google.  Anyway, it’s this one that I have the most fun with.  I wait for the liquid to arc away from me and then I run in and snatch it, holding it away from my body like one would an agitated snake.  It makes watering the lawn much more exciting.  I then relocate the mad (angry, not crazy) sprinkler to another area in need and try to escape the falling water once I set it down in the correct position.  I have about a 50/50 escape success rate so far.  The odds are not, “ever in my favor,” but I still take them again and again.

I think I can add Sprinkler Ninja to my resume now.  Yep.  I’m a Sprinkler Ninja.