I only mow the grass in my front yard, and let the backyard grow. Let the homeowners association try and say something about my yard mullet.
There was a specific moment I connected deeply with my father-in-law, a man who was very different from me: very blue collar, very DIY, not very book-smart but very savvy about building, making, and doing. A man of few words.
We were watching a news story on an HOA trying to make a man pull up his solar panels in his back yard because he had a corner property and they were trying to get them declared an eyesore. I was about to say something about close-minded folks stymieing clean energy adoption... When my father-in-law suddenly growled:
"If they win, I hope he pulls the panels up and then asphalts the whole back yard."
I looked at him.
"It's his house. He worked for it. They didn't. It should be up to him what he does with it."
