Dirt and Sod on the National Mall

We drove in to town last Friday for a walkabout. It was a beautiful and bright, but chilly morning. Because the parking at the Tidal Basin is so convenient compared to Capitol Hill, we oftentimes prefer this side of the National Mall to our old neighborhood. And my husband loves Constitution Gardens because it is so serene and not really well known compared to the WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Korean and Vietnam memorials. On the way over and back there was something interesting happening. Of course there is always some sort of construction or road work going on. But what we saw was very unique - especially the size and scope. Apparently there is a grass replacement project going on in between the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument. From the street to the Washington Monument was dirt. And on the dirt were huge grass rolls/sod that were systematically being planted by an army of workers. It almost looked like farmland from one view with hay rolls. The area was roped off to keep the foot traffic away. I suppose this is a good time of the year for this type of planting, but there is no rain in the forecast. So we spent a bit of time watching the production - it seemed more interesting than all of the other things around us.