Bill and Mary-Ellen McDonald host firefly viewing parties, hoping to inspire their neighbors to stop using pesticides and consider rewilding their lawns.
After their homeowner association ordered them to replace their wildlife-friendly plants with turf grass, a Maryland couple sued. They ended up changing state law.
Amid droughts and extreme heat, people are welcoming clover into their lawns, an alternative to the purely grass lawn, helping them save water and money.
Twenty years ago, a grass court emerged from the surrounding cornfields in Charles City. Its story is colored by exacting standards, profound loss and, ultimately, rebirth.