Any ideas what story this might be? My Grammie told me about it and I'm trying to find it. TIA
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1Hi, welcome to SF&F! There's not a lot of detail here; is there anything you can add, like when you heard it (or better, when or where she read it)?– DavidWCommented Apr 12, 2019 at 17:15
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1I've found an opinion piece about lawns which uses this as a way of indicating how ridiculous our obsession with lawns is, but there's no story mentioned.– FuzzyBootsCommented Apr 12, 2019 at 17:47
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2There is a segment in Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land where Valentine Michael Smith has an existential crisis about our abuse of grass when we walk on it. It doesn't specifically mention worship, but there is a subtext of veneration. It's in this text, around page 50 (or do a search for 'grass'): archive.org/stream/StrangerInAStrangeLandRobertAHeinlein/…– JohnWinkelmanCommented Apr 12, 2019 at 18:37
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@JohnWinkelman I remember that bit from Stranger. I think it might very well be what eclaws's Grammie was remembering with amusement.– LorendiacCommented Apr 13, 2019 at 2:15
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Wowee! I'm so impressed with this community. I think the bit from Stranger in a Strange Land is what she was remembering. I'm not able to ask her as she passed last November, but having this info is brings some comfort as I can pass it along to someone else she wanted to share the story with. Thanks again!– eclawsCommented Apr 26, 2019 at 18:54
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1 Answer
Since the OP seems to have already accepted this, I'm going to post it as an answer so it's officially recorded.
The work seems to be Stranger In a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, specifically this passage where Valentine Michael Smith first encounters a lawn:
Smith wiggled his toes in the cool grass, then said timidly, "But these live?"
"Sure, they're alive. It's real live grass. Ben paid a lot to have it that way. Why, the special lighting circuits alone cost more than I make in a month. So walk around and let your feet enjoy it."
Smith missed much of the speech but he did understand that the grass was made up of living beings and that he was being invited to walk on them. "Walk on living things?" he asked with incredulous horror.
"Huh? Why not? It doesn't hurt this grass; it was specially developed for house rugs."
Smith was forced to remind himself that a water brother could not lead him into wrongful action. Apprehensively he let himself be encouraged to walk around-and found that he did enjoy it and that the living creatures did not protest. He set his sensitivity for such things as high as possible; his brother was right, this was their proper being-to be walked on. He resolved to enfold it and praise it
So he is dumbfounded by the grass, accepts it, and comes to "praise it" which suggests an almost religious response at least on his part.
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3If you want to mark this answer as "accepted" (the checkmark under the voting arrows), it will help indicate to future users that the answer was found. (It will also reward you with some extra reputation for doing it.)– DavidWCommented Apr 26, 2019 at 21:17