yeah. so i don't know if i posted about our grass before, but I'm going to now.

Columbia Seminary has the most beautiful lawn ever. The "Oldenburg Quad" (commonly known as the quad, but named after Douglas Oldenburg, most recent former president of the seminary...and moderator of the PC(USA) a couple of years ago) is lush, green, pure, and wonderful. So much so that Doug didn't allow people to walk on the grass, actually. That has since changed and we even have wiffle ball games out there! it's wonderful. Great for studying, socializing, playing, relaxing, looking at...

or it was.

The grass has been effectively killed off. No one knows what happened, or how, but sometime around Labor Day weekend it began to turn brown. Very brown. Almost everywhere--but not around trees. There is a theory about fertilizing without watering...and one about fungus, and one about killing the grass on purpose, and several others, of course...but the fact remains that the grass is dead. So we've gone from lush green valley to amber waves of grain.

Or they were.

Until the lawn company came and mowed it. Even though it was dead. And until tropical depression Hannah brought several inches of rain in a weekend. And it kept raining...for a week. Meanwhile the sprinkler system was still on so every night the lawn was watered. Standing water began to appear, and a hint of mud. Then the grass was mowed again--what was left of it. While it was raining.

And now, now..we have mudholes. sinkholes. elephant mud baths. perfect for spa weekend retreats. Right in the middle of the campus. The grass is gone--there is standing water, mud, and visions of a destroyed and matted root system. The entire lawn is going to have to be pulled up and re-sodded.

Except around the trees, where it is beautiful and green--and soggy.

Lush green valleys to amber waves of grain to saharan watering hole, muddied by a herd of elephants (commonly known as lawnmowers).

Good times on the grass of Columbia Seminary.

in other news, I totally rocked the Hebrew vocab quiz today. I am almost positive I got 100%. woohoo!

time to read about the Exodus. but if you don't want to do that, I recommend reading about how to make a candle. ta.