66-year-old Georgianna Reid, a resident of Kansas City, got so fed up of mowing her lawn that she converted it into a giant sandbox. She actually replaced her green lawn with 80 tons of sand, after contractors tore up her yard. The conversion cost her $4,000, including a low fence all around the perimeter of the sand-covered lawn.
“Now, being over 60, I’ve decided that I’ve owned the house for 33 years and that I wasn’t going to mow anymore or water,” she said. Georgianna’s corner house at East Meyer Boulevard and Walnut Street is so conspicuous now, passersby just cannot miss it. Unfortunately, not all the reactions are positive. A lot of her neighbors don’t think the house ‘fits in’ to the Brookside area.
Some of them have actually filed complaints with the city officials. A few went as far as stealing her volleyball net, lawn ornaments and a life-sized chest. “I think the house looks revolting with all that is out there,” said neighbor Edwin Bisby. “I’m sure it’s going to hurt the property values in this neighborhood.”
But Georgianna isn’t bothered by her critics. She has put up a sign offering $2,000 for the return of the stolen items. She has her fair share of admirers too, who think her new lawn is amazing. “I’m completely accepting of the ‘sandbox’,” declared one neighbor. And when the city officials paid her home a visit, they couldn’t spot any landscaping code violations.
“I would say I’m putting in the largest litter box in the world,” she said with nonchalance. Now, if she could only get a pool attached to the sand, she’d never have to visit the beach again!
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