So, it turns out that my house is a lot cooler than I thought it was! Our previous owner, was big into lawn care- and I mean BIG. The way that the house is facing, and the fact that theres no shade on the lawn from the sun, means that during the summertime a lot of the grass just dries up and dies. He ended up tearing out a lot of the grass and putting in a natural area of trees and bushes and things, but he never stopped trying to make the grass is green as possible. When we moved in, he left us fertilizer, seed, and instructions for the sprinkler system. Funny thing is, I visited the house twice, and only the night before did I even realize that the house was equipped with a sprinkler system.

I just talked up the sprinklers to something I could use to sell the house for more when we end up moving. From years of mowing a steep New Jersey lawn with an electric mower Ive developed an attitude that is pretty much anti-weed. I hate grass. I was thinking of tearing it all out and making the whole front yard a giant natural area just the thought of maintaining and watering and cutting and putting work into a weed just didnt sit right with me.

However, the front was getting pretty dry and Orie and I came to the conclusion that if it only takes a few minutes to water the lawn well do it that way. One thing led to another, and we realized we should just go ahead and give the sprinkler system a shot. My dad came over and we installed the backflow preventer that they require here in Cary. We hunted all over the house for the water flow control valve. My dad ended up crawling all around underneath the house to try to find out where the water valve was. It turned out, it was right next to the backflow preventer. Anyway, after a trip to Ace Hardware to get some valve opening supplies, we got everything installed and flipped the water switch.

I had no idea what to expect. I certainly didnt expect to see, over the next minute or two, a symphony of about 20 hidden sprinklers on at least five different zones spring up all over the place. They appeared out of NOWHERE. I literally did not see a single one of these sprinklers in my yard in the six months since we owned the house, until we hit the switch and they popped out in a pattern, like automatic Alien-destroying turrets. It was like watching Starcraft on my lawn.

It kinda sucks, because after seeing that theres no way I could blow off using the sprinklers. It was one of the coolest things Ive seen in my home. It was like opening the basement to see that it came with its own Ninja clan. I cannot escape my sprinkler destiny.