When I first moved into this apartment, the property manager sent someone around every couple months to trim the lawn. It sort of looked like someone might have tried to cover the space with gravel sometime back. On the other hand, during the rainy season there was a good amount of grass growing in my little three foot by twenty foot lawn.

A few months later the property owner changed property management companies. The replacement property managers did not think it was their responsibility to care for the lawn. When my neighbor went to move out they got notice that their deposit was going to be withheld unless they trimmed the grass in their lawn area. They were surprised. I decided I should trim my lawn as well.

One year later, and the owner changed property managers again. This property manager sent people around to trim the lawn - occasionally. But that did not last. I went back to trimming my lawn when I got tall enough to annoy me. My new neighbor did not until one day he got a letter telling him the property manager was going to send him a bill if he didn’t trim his lawn.

I decided I was tired of scraggly looking grass growing out of this gravelly looking space, so I planted three shrubs. I then spent time, money, and effort over the next two years trying to turn this mix of sand and gravel into soil. I was pretty happy with how it was looking. My shrubs were getting tall, and the ground looked a lot more like soil.

Eventually the neighbor in front moved out and we got a new neighbor. Once again, the property manager started sending someone over to trim the lawn. By now, I was not happy about that. For the first time since I was a child, I have a lawn area I can enjoy. I can enjoy standing on the grass. The stray cats and occasional homeless person love the shade under my shrubs. My cats and I enjoy looking out the door and seeing the hummingbirds, butterflies, and such that come to enjoy the shrubs.

Well today the landscape guys took all my topsoil. I do not know why. I just know that those few inches of topsoil that took me two years of effort to develop got loaded into a the back of a truck today and hauled away.

There is no need for resentments. I just rent. The landscape guys do what the owner tells them. I am grieving however. My topsoil is gone. My lawn is gone. Instead, I now have three foot by twenty foot of gravel mixed with sand. At least they left my shrubs. I think I’ll plant more shrubs.