Growing up, my neighborhood had a notoriously strict homeowners association.
All the homes had to be exactly the right colors, with exactly the right front and garage doors, and exactly the right plants in the front yard. Hedges had to be strictly trimmed, flowers had to look just so, and grassy areas had to be carefully mowed.
One of my chores as a kid was to water the flowers twice a week. It was an important job because if the flowers got brown, we’d get a sassy letter from the association. I knew of a neighbor whose sprinklers broke, their grass turned brown, and they were fined for months until their lawn came back to life…