10 things I love: #3: The smell of cut grass, and the sound of a lawn mower in the distant background.

"The smell of fresh cut grass puts travelers in a place of calm and wonderment" - New York Botanical Garden.

I love the smell of fresh cut grass. Along with that, I love the sound a of lawn mower in the distant background. Up close, the volume of the lawn mower hurts my ear drums, but from a far away distance, I find it almost relaxing and calming.

Both of these bring back childhood memories. When I was in elementary school, my school had a very large field behind the playground. During the early fall, spring, and late summer school days, I would constantly hear the maintenance person driving the lawn mower outside. As a child, this sound reminded me of summer days and sunshine.

Now, as an adult, whenever I go for a walk through town, and I hear the sound of a lawn mower from far away; or even walk outside my house in the country and hear my neighbor mowing their lawn, I can't help but think about those beautiful summer days, and that warm enchanting sunshine. It's almost as if the sound and smell transport me back to my childhood, and if I may say, it's a very quaint feeling that I love to encounter.


"The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence but you still have to mow it."

As I was surfing the internet one day, I came across this article, and I found it very interesting. I would like to share it with you:


"The Smell of freshly cut grass is actually a plant distress call."

The lovely scent of cut grass is the reek of plant anguish: When attacked, plants release airborne chemical compounds. Now scientists say plants can use these compounds almost like language, notifying nearby creatures who can "rescue" them from insect attacks.

A group of German scientists studying a wild tobacco plant noticed that the compounds it released - called green leaf volatiles or GLVs - were very specific. When the plants were infested by caterpillars, the plants released a distress GLV that attracted predatory bugs who like to eat the caterpillars in question.

According to Science, where the researchers published their study today: They found that when these plants are attacked by tobacco hornworm caterpillars, Manduca sexta, the caterpillars' saliva causes a chemical change in the GLV compounds the plants had produced. These modified compounds then attract predatory "true bugs," Geocoris, which prey on hornworm eggs and young larvae. Although more research will be needed to figure out exactly how the molecules in the caterpillar saliva cause this change in the GLVs, it's clear that the caterpillars themselves cause the change in the GLV signal, the researchers say. It may thus be possible someday to induce the same sort of change via genetic engineering, which might protect plants against pests without encouraging the resistance that pests develop in response to pesticides.

I think what's most interesting about this study is the way it suggests that plants have a rudimentary form of language based on releasing these chemical compounds. These tobacco plants have the ability to modulate the signals they send out, depending on the kind of attack they're suffering. Combine this discovery with the one a few weeks ago, that plants are able to perform simple computations, and it's clear that the average person underestimates how much plants are dynamically engaged with their environments. It's interesting to imagine plants as having truly alien forms of consciousness and communication - different from animals' minds, but sometimes performing similar tasks."

Haha, I know that was a bit to read, but I found it interesting. :]

"I am the mown grass, dying at your feet,
The pale grass, gasping faintly in the sun.
I shall be dead, long, long ere day is done,
That you may say: "The air, to-day, was sweet."
I am the mown grass, dying at your feet."
- Margaret Gilman Davidson, "Moritura"

"All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field."
- Isaiah 40:6

"Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, Laughed in the sun,
and kissed the lovely grass."
- Rupert Brooke

"Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
My humble song of praise
Most joyfully I raise To Him at whose command
I beautify the land,
Creeping, silently creeping everywhere."
- Sarah Roberts Boyle, "The Voice of the Grass"

"The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself" - Henry Miller.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time" – John Lubbock

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." - Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator

"Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life." - John Conrad

"To us also, through every star, through every blade of grass, is not God made visible if we will open our minds and our eyes" – Thomas Carlyle

"You could cover the whole earth with asphalt, but sooner or later green grass would break through" – Ilya Ehrenburg

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." - Hal Borland.

I also have to admit, I personally enjoy mowing the lawn. Perhaps it's that feeling of taking responsibility or ownership of my yard, or maybe it's the fact that I like the "work-out" that is required to finish the job. Either way, I found this quote, and I think it sums up a lot that I'm feeling in just a few sentences...

"I enjoy mowing the lawn, it relaxes me. It gets me outdoors, it's good exercise, the freshly cut grass smells great, and the engine is loud enough that I'm sure no one else can hear my thoughts - or intrude upon them." - Astrid Alauda