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The grass is always greener: things always look like they are are better somewhere else. But is it actually true that things are better somewhere else than where you are, or is it nothing but a common illusion?

Once upon a time there was a lady goat farmer in in upper Michigan who, wheelbarrow-load by wheelbarrow-load, moved the goat manure from the barn out to a great variety of spots in the pasture. It was a hard job, especially when the younger goats kept jumping into the wheelbarrow hoping for a ride. The next spring: 'the grass is always greener on the south side of the goat manure piles.'

The green grass was wonderful. It was beautiful. But on the other hand it was full of goat manure. Would you eat goat-manure flavored grass? Not exactly a gourmet item even for goats. And such green grass is likely to harbor worm larvae and there's nothing worse than a wormy goat, except perhaps a wormy goat that's jumping into your wheelbarrow.

But enough of the agricultural stuff. That 'grass is always greener' stuff really reflects the tendency of humans to believe that everything must be better somewhere else than here. It's a rosy dream of some idealized place and time that we will always long for and some of us will seek out. But is it even possible to find it in real life?

Americans are the children of grass-is-greener people. Somewhere in Europe they read of rich America where the streets were paved with gold. They saved every penny- or every pfennig- for their passage and arrived in time for the great Western pioneering movement. And though what they found in the streets of the pioneer towns was more likely to be horse manure than gold, they worked hard and made at least enough money to send for their wives and/or sweethearts.

To this day many believe that the grass just has to be greener somewhere else. They move to a new town or get a new job and hope that all of their problems will go away. But is their hope fulfilled? Not always. They leave a town with cold winters and find their new town plagued by insects and hurricanes. They have just as much angst at the new job as at the old one- because after all, they had to bring themselves along.

From an objective standpoint, it is likely that the grass really isn't greener someplace else. But we all have our dreams, and if we shovel enough manure, maybe we really will find a patch of greener grass somewhere.

Learn more about this author, Nissa Annakindt.
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