Not "Singing in the Rain"

            I was made aware of a plight that has been plaguing those whose morning constitutional starts at 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning. Seekers of health and vitality it seems are running an obstacle course of sidewalk sprinklers early in the morning.

            I’m sure the “waterers of the concrete” have no idea that they are making it difficult for people out on power walks; and the people on these healthy heart sprints have no idea why people are watering now!

           The reason they run sprinklers at night, usually starting at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, is so the grass will dry out quickly throughout the daylight morning hours. If the grass stays wet or damp too long it has a greater chance of contracting fungus problems. This is why sprinkling is NOT done in the evening; wet grass hours would be numbered around 14, where as morning sprinkling reduces it to around 6.

            But why are they sprinkling the sidewalk?

            It is possible that some of the sprinklers have been jostled a bit. A simple grabbing them while they are running and twisting the base a tad to better cover the area they were intended to hit would be a simple thing to do, even by the walker. But it is also possible that they went cheap on the heads and just installed the big guns, leaving the sidewalks (and you) as casualties of errant water. A phone call then, or a plate of cookies, to the houses most difficult could get the owners to set the sidewalk zone to run first while you are yet in restful slumber. This is a very easy procedure if the owner’s manual is consulted.

            I would address the sprinkler’ers’, but it is only the “sprinkled” who are aware of the sprinkling problem. But, you know there is an alternative.

            Remember that yellow rain coat with the big buckle clasps and the matching pants and hat? Remember that smell? Remember how dumb ya looked? A little weavin and bobbin doesn’t sound so bad now does it?