Jesus (pronounced hay-SOOS) was a gardener I once knew that took meticulous care of yards.  The lawns, the shrubs, were all manicured to perfection.  And weeds?  Don’t get me started.  He wouldn’t even watch the TV show just because of the name.

But that was many years ago and now, here I find myself living next door to a hermit, who does absolutely nothing to his yard.  Now, I’m sure the first place you went was, “Oh, c’mon, Tim.  You mean he just doesn’t mow the lawn very often, rigth?”

No, I mean he has allowed whatever grows to grow.  Which is why I’m providing photographic proof.

In the foreground is one of my raspberry bushes that surpasses the 5-foot fence.  Behind it, in my neighbor’s yard, is a weed that has got to be 8-feet tall and could play for our basketball team if Seattle had one.

Oh, it gets better.

Yep, those are dandelions in his front yard, gone to seed, waiting for a slight breeze to lift them up and carry them over my fence and into my yard.

The good news about the backyard is that the weeds have gotten so big, that the dandelions don’t stand a chance of spreading.

I mean, at what point is this yard considered a nuisance?  Am I jerk for thinking about pointing out this yard to the city?  Was I wrong to call up and the U.S. Air Force and request an aerial spraying of Agent Orange?  Yeah, maybe that was a little over the top.  Besides, who knew the stuff had been banned?

So, as this eyesore next door waits to greet me as I leave every morning, I can’t help but ask: What would Jesus do?

Tim Hunter