'Tis summer, the season of little yellow flags. Bright cheerful things that wave in the breeze. We live in paradise, here in Roslyn, don't we? A land of pretty lawns and gardens and beautiful homes.

And we Roslynites spend so much energy of ensuring the safety of our children. I personally know several mothers who won't let their children walk to school, driving them or arranging expensive alternates, despite the presence of a crossing guard, because that walk includes a one block stretch on Glen Cove Road. I myself, being a "city kid," have chosen to continue walking my daughter. Is it unsafe? I don't think so. Anyway, we have to "live in the world, don't we?" It is true that a truck went up a fence on Glen Cove Road a few weeks ago. Is that a reason not to walk there anymore? Perhaps all our lives we make certain choices that compromise our total safety, and as parents we are constantly faced with the perplexing responsibility of drawing those lines, beyond which we forbid our children, perhaps ourselves, to go.

But there are some lines that are not so clearly seen. A short generation ago, mothers routinely smoked while holding their babes and while the information was there about smoking and diseases, it seemed most people didn't take it seriously. Some dangers are "time-released" dangers. They unfold so slowly that we can easily miss, or ignore them, because nothing will be seeming to happen, for so long. And yet something is happening. Our crossing guard recently told me that on one street in Levittown there were 13 cases of breast cancer.

And so we return to those bright yellow little flags on the corner of our lawns. Not the kind of flags that come with parades or celebrations, but the kind that tell us to keep off the grass for 24 hours after the insecticide has been applied. Lively little things waving on the corner of so, so many properties in our neighborhoods. Bright yellow harbingers of beautiful lawns to come. Why is it that whenever I see one of these little things I feel sick?

Do we know for sure that our alarming situation regarding breast cancer is a direct result of those cut little yellow flags? No. At least I think not. In fact, the flags themselves state that it is only for 24 hours that any danger is present. As if magically the poison has disappeared the next day. But let's think for a moment. How can that be? Where could it go? Haven't we been through enough to know that manufacturers will mislead if necessary, to sell a product?

Last week I was driving by a neighbor's house, and I saw a baby girl jump out of her mother's grasp and trot, barefoot and barelegged, across one of those lawns with the yellow flag. I winched, but the mother seemed quite unaffected, picking up the child and continuing her discussion. I wanted to scream "wash her feet!" out my car window, but allowed my sense of propriety to take over. This mother was someone I know, someone who would stand on her head and spit nickels if it were necessary to help her little girl be healthy and safe.

It is for the sake of that little girl's sweet feet that I write this to you, my neighbors, my friends. And the message is, Please think twice and take control - for the sake of our children. It isn't necessary to poison our lawns, and it isn't worth it! Although our gardeners automatically give us "chinch bug" this and "grub" that, it really isn't necessary. I invite you to have a good look at my lawn, easy enough to see on the corner of Glen Cove Road and Midwood Cross as you drive by. That lawn may not be a golf course, but it looks perfectly fine to me. I will honestly admit that we had five days in April when the dandelion stalks grew and the lawn looked ugly. Then we were mowed, and that was it.

The lawn hasn't had any chemical interference in at least eight years, except for a hit of fertilizer last summer. And this year I discovered a terrific organic dethatcher that simply contains safe microorganisms that live in the earth and make the thatch disappear. How nice to think we can work with nature's creatures to achieve a balance, instead of killing every earth creature there, and making a beautiful but poisoned "dead" lawn.

There are safe alternatives available for everything now, but so many of us, with our busy lives, just leave it to our gardeners. Let's stop. We have every reason to. Next time you see your gardener, tell him you want no more insecticides at all, no more grub or chinch bug control. No more toxic fertilizers, nothing at all to enter your space that isn't organic. He may balk, but if he has bothered to keep up with developments in his field, he should know that everything that is needed to keep gardens healthy is now available in organic form. And not more expensively, either.

We all live together on this land. What my neighbor does 10 feet away from me is a part of my life too. Maybe you don't have a baby daughter, but does your neighbor? Long Island's water is groundwater. How smart do we have to be to understand the consequences of what a generation of beautiful lawns has bequeathed to us and our children. Let's stop now, and start working along with Mother Earth instead. Perhaps it isn't too late to clean this place up for our grandchildren.

Elizabeth Spicer, Ph.D.