Inspirational messages in a field of grass stop people in their tracks

The idea was hatched over dinner as Jeff and Cheryl DeLong sat out on their back deck in Niwot. Jeff said he thought it would be cool to see words out in the grassy field behind their house. Cheryl double dared him to do it. "He got a gleam in his eye," Cheryl said.

Jeff got out his electric mower, paced off the letters and cut the first word they thought of, pray. It took hours as he alternated between cutting and charging the mower--once, twice, three times, four. Four passes per letter. After he did one word, he couldn't stop himself from adding more. At last count there were nine: give, love, joy, hope, care, pray, heroes, kind and dream. "I wanted words that were inspirational," Jeff said.

The field is southwest of 79th and Country Creek Drive. It borders the LoBo trail. Jeff said the field is technically Boulder County Open Space, but his HOA takes care of the mowing. He bounced the idea off a few board members then got after it. "No one is yelling at me, so I did several more words," he said.

Passersby have to discover each letter one at a time and put it all together. "You see nothing when you first walk up to it. All the sudden it just jumps out to people," Jeff said. "People are working out and they just stop. I have to laugh when I see them."

Each word has its place and its power. "I put love right there in the middle. So that main intersection, that word stares at you," he said. Jeff wants to make sure people enjoy them while staying safe. So he put 60 feet between each word for an extra measure of social distancing.

The idea has been brewing for a while. Jeff and Cheryl ride bikes to leave the house and get some exercise while they've been following stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They noticed that people were sharing positive messages in their yards and houses. Jeff said that got him thinking. "You'll see something simple in someone's yard; they have hearts made out of stones. You start looking at all that stuff and I said, 'What's my sign?'"

The letters are between 17 and 56 feet in length. Only the word " joy" can be easily seen in one field of view from ground level. Jeff maintains the words by mowing daily, sometimes more than once. It can take a couple of hours. He said it's a nice break while he's working from home. People pass him on the trail and give him a thumbs up while he mows, which keeps him motivated.

At day's end, he and Cheryl eat dinner on the deck and watch people react when they notice there's something not quite right in the field. They especially enjoy the children. "Little kids will ride bikes or run through the letters like it's a maze. We have six grandkids we haven't seen for a couple months. It's been really fun to see the little kids out there," Cheryl said.

But that isn't the only emotion they've experienced. "A lady came with her dog and sat down in the middle of the word pray and prayed. It almost brought tears to my eyes," Jeff said.

CUTLINE for photo of little girl.

Five-year-old Ella Rizzolo expresses her joy at finding inspirational words mowed into a grassy field in Niwot.