Reno Freecycle rocks

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I’m seriously conflicted about some stuff I did this weekend, but allow me to tell you about just one. Let me start by saying I’m from Nebraska. Most of my formative years were spent playing outside in the summer on my dad’s incredible Kentucky bluegrass lawn. Evenings were occupied with running around the neighborhood chasing fireflies. I bet I didn’t wear shoes three-quarters of the time during summer vacation.

So I love a nice lawn. It’s in my blood. A nice lawn somehow represents freedom, peace of mind, stability to me. So, anywhere I’ve lived, I’ve always planted a lawn and before long, I have one of the best lawns in the neighborhood. I can grow grass on a bowling ball.

So, I did the same to the house I live in now—planted grass in the front and back, made it close to perfect. But this weekend, I forsook all that. I rented a sod cutter, cut out about a third of the front lawn and about a sixth of the back. I had a plan, though. My friend Sheila got as much sod as she needed for her whole backyard. Really, I didn’t lose any grass, I just moved it—which is how I overcame my conflict, I suppose. You can’t imagine what a pleasure it was to cap off half my sprinklers (though several will return as a drip system to water my new gardens).

But that still left probably a thousand square feet of sod. Enter Reno Freecycle. I get there through Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RenoFreecycle). I listed my sod as free to whoever wanted to pick it up. It was on the driveway, and before the evening was out, people had removed it all. Saved me dump fees, and the gas driving to and fro. They got beautiful grass they didn’t have to pay for.

Reno Freecycle is a beautiful thing. Want free stuff? Check it. Want to get rid of useable items that you have no use for? Check it out.