To Fertilize Or Not To Fertilize

To fertilize or not to fertilize, that is the question!  I just finished mowing my lawn - for the second time this week.  And it looks terrible because I didn't bag it.   Several years ago my lawn looked bad so I began an annual program of fertilization and lawn treatment.  The dandelions and clover disappeared and the grass became green, especially when it rained.  And it began to grow at an alarming rate - almost like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk.  Grow, cut, grow, cut, grow, cut.  Then our garbage collector began to refuse lawn clippings unless you bought special tags.  So I stopped collecting the clippings and the result is clods of grass which look terrible when they dry and cover the lawn.  So what is one to do?  You pay to have it fertilized.  You spend half your life cutting.  Then you buy tags each week to get rid of the clippings.  All this time and expense just to have a nice looking lawn.  Something just doesn't seem right.  Maybe the days of just letting God take care of my lawn wasn't so bad.  In the spring we had pretty yellow flowers which turned to feathers.  Then it was full of little white flowers.   Then came the clods of crabgrass.  And finally in August it would turn brown. Soon the leaves would fall and cover it.  Now that is variety.  And since you didn't need to cut it every night you could sit back and "admire" it.  And with the money saved, you could afford gas to drive around and look at the lush lawns that others have invested in.   Hmmm.   So, to fertilize or not to fertilize, that is the question.  I will need to ponder that thought as I cut grass again tomorrow, and maybe the next day, and maybe the .....