Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for May 19, 2003

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, May 19, 2003 | 8:46 a.m.

Seeing stripes

Have any plans for the Memorial Day holiday? Maybe you'll spend the first unofficial weekend of summer taking in a baseball game at one of the nation's premier stadiums.

Ever wondered between bites from a hot dog, gulps of beer and calls of "Over here!" to the peanut vendor just how ballpark groundskeepers mow those cool patterns onto the outfield? Now that's skill.

Actually, it's an optical illusion called "lawn striping," and as long as they have the right equipment, even average homeowners can boast such big-league results in their own yards.

The stripes as well as checkerboards, bull's-eyes and waves, among a multitude of other patterns are achieved not with lawn-mower blades, but with rollers that bend the grass: Angle it away from you and the grass appears lighter; bend it toward you and it seems darker. That not-so-scientific explanation comes courtesy of Simplicity Manufacturing Inc., a Port Washington, Wis., company that makes surprise! mowers and tractors featuring lawn-striping rollers.

The company has teamed with Dave Mellor, director of grounds at Boston's Fenway Park and author of "Picture Perfect: Mowing Techniques for Lawns, Landscapes and Sports" (Wiley, 2002, $34.95), to help promote lawn striping. Itching to sculpt your own field of dreams? Directions for striping checkerboard, diamond and plaid patterns can be found at simplicitymfg.com.

Exploratory states

Long weekends always equate to long lines at the country's airports and big-time bottlenecks on the nation's highways. Don't be surprised this weekend, however, to see more guys than gals hopping from state to state.

The publishers of Fodor's travel guides recently released the results of a survey that asked upwards of 2,100 people how many of the United States they had visited. Turns out 26 percent of men polled had walked on the soil of between 41 and 50 states, compared to 14 percent of women. Most of the ladies (29 percent to be exact) had seen only between 11 and 20 states.

When it comes to both sexes, 41 percent of those polled reported having been to less than 20 states; 22 percent have set foot in 21 to 30 states; and 36 percent of people have traveled to more than 31 states.

Honoring heroes

No matter what your plans are for the holiday weekend, the patriotic Americans who run the website usmemorialday.org hope people also remember the real purpose of Memorial Day: to honor those who gave their lives in battle.

The website was created in 1994 as a class project at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Its purpose: to lead the charge to shift focus back to the holiday's original intent, as well as provide information and offer a place to pay homage to the 1.8 million servicemen and women who have given the "ultimate sacrifice" since 1775.

Assuming you can pry yourself away Monday from the burgers and potato salad of backyard barbecues, the website offers some activities to help "put the memorial back in Memorial Day." Among them: