Under my dining room table are two pairs of shoes — a pair of high-top Nikes and a pair of ankle boots. They've been there for weeks.

I call it the graveyard. 

Both pairs of shoes, for the sake of the metaphor, are dead — and they were killed by the sloppy, muddy conditions of Citizens Field, which has been drenched by the recent rainfall in Gainesville. 

Mother Nature wasted no time in imposing her will on Gainesville's high school football season. 

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When Lake City Columbia visited Buchholz in the first game of the regular season on Aug. 25, the game almost didn't get off the ground as a late-afternoon shower turned the field into a swamp. 

Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore and Columbia head coach Demetric Jackson met at midfield with their athletic directors and discussed possible make-up dates and if the field was playable.

However, with their heels sinking into turf and the lines at the ticket gates growing, both coaches decided they were in too deep and went on with the game, albeit a later kickoff. 

That was chapter one of a story that has continued to unfold in a book that needs to be slammed shut.

Last Thursday, Gainesville and its visitor, Ocala Trinity Catholic, fell victim to the mud bog on Northeast 14th Street when the skies opened up in the second quarter, causing a rain delay and puddles of standing water. 

While the Hurricanes and Celtics finished their soppy contest, Buchholz and Eastside were left to deal with the damage on Friday night.

When the Bobcats and Rams took Citizens Field or Friday's city rivalry game, the grass had already been smoothed out by a 1-ton roller, just like it had been after the Columbia-Buchholz game. 

While it helped some, it didn't take long for the field to get ripped to shreds by cleated feet. 

More rain, paired with thunder and lightning, not only forced Friday night's game to be canceled, but it also forced a conversation. 

With three successful, storied and well-celebrated high school football programs sharing Citizens Field during the fall, as well as high school soccer and lacrosse in the winter and spring, there's no reason student-athletes should have to continue to play on a surface that feels more like a sponge than a field. 

In 2018, Tallahassee's Gene Cox Stadium, which is the shared home to five public schools' football teams, received a $786,000 facelift that featured the installation of artificial turf, as well as a new scoreboard. The Leon County School District was the one to foot the bill for the renovation. 

Is it time for such a project be considered at Citizens Field? 

There's no question about it. 

Citizens Field is technically owned by the City of Gainesville, but Alachua County Public Schools maintains the facility as part of its 40-year contract, which expires in 2024. 

So how would such a project be funded? Don't ask me. I'm just a sports reporter.

But there's got to be a way. 

And if money is the concern, as it always is, then all stakeholders should make a way. 

Returning to the example of Gene Cox Stadium: Rocky Hanna, Leon County Public Schools' superintendent at the time of the project, told the Tallahassee Democrat that the project would pay for itself in eight years thanks to the reduction in maintenance costs. 

Not to mention, Gene Cox has since become a destination for top-tier football games, such as the FHSAA's rural classification state championship game. 

Instead, when the Bradford Tornadoes visit the Eastside Rams on Friday night, both teams will just have to hope that Gainesville doesn't get doused again and that the field is in decent shape — ironic considering Bradford's home field in Starke is artificial turf. 

If anything good can come out of the recent rain spell in Gainesville, it'll be that it served as the final straw and convinced local leaders to have a conversation about putting artificial turf at Citizens Field. 

Until then, any and all shoe-cleaning recommendations can be sent to alee@gannett.com.