‘Homer Hedge’: A Simpsons meme takes root in Everett — D’oh!

EVERETT — There’s a guy lurking in the bushes along West Mukilteo Boulevard.

Yellow head. Googly eyes. Bald. Blue pants. Beer belly.

D’oh! What’s up with that?

It’s Homer Simpson, straight out of the classic meme where he disappears backward into the hedges.

“I put him up as a Halloween decoration,” homeowner Ryan McMeans said. That was back in 2023.

On the day I visited, a driver rolled by and shouted out the window, “I love your Homer!”

“That’s why we never took it down,” McMeans said.

He and his wife, Caitlin Swanson, moved into the 1940s brick home near Howarth Park in Everett four years ago. Their acre lot sits across the busy road from the Glenhaven sign. Three backyard ponds are tucked behind a long row of Emerald Green arborvitae, those tall, pointy hedges seen all over town.

A perfect home for Homer.

“He’s a gateway to a green oasis,” McMeans said. “We spend countless hours every week trying to maintain and improve the property. And yet, all anyone cares about is Homer.”

When he mentioned the meme at work, someone immediately said, “Oh! I know where you live.”

McMeans, 40, is a physician assistant in trauma surgery at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. Swanson, also 40, works as a labor and delivery nurse at Swedish in Seattle.

Homer was a tag-team effort: Swanson built a sturdy wooden stand and McMeans brought the ultimate dad bod to life.

He scored the mask from Amazon. The blue pants were a relic from his closet — too wild to wear, too good to toss.

The white shirt was a Value Village find. For the photo shoot, Homer even got a fresh one. Turns out, he cleans up pretty well.

The meme comes from a 1994 episode in the show’s fifth season, where Homer awkwardly backs into a hedge after being brushed off by neighbor Ned Flanders. Those three seconds of social discomfort became internet gold. After all, who hasn’t wanted to pull a Homer and retreat into a bush?

It spawned GIFs, T-shirts, TikToks, Chia Pets, Christmas ornaments, Funko Pop! figures and even tattoos.

In March, to celebrate the show’s 36th season, a leafy London pop-up where people could create their own “Homer Hedge” moment became a smash hit.

Homer fans are always welcome here.

At first, McMeans said it was a little jarring to find strangers in front of his house.

“I’d start to turn into a crotchety old man like, ‘What are those kids doing on my lawn?’ and then I’d see they’re just taking a selfie with Homer,” he said.

McMeans grew up watching “The Simpsons” and always loved the hedge meme. The show, the longest-running American animated series, has been renewed through at least 2029.

What better place than Everett to pay tribute?

Creator Matt Groening’s mother, Marge Wiggum, grew up on Grand Avenue in Everett. Yes, that Marge, Homer’s blue-haired wife — and that Wiggum, the bumbling police chief. In real life, Everett’s Wiggums Hollow Park was named for Groening’s uncle, Arnold Wiggum, a former principal at Hawthorne Elementary.

Lisa and Maggie are named after Groening’s sisters.

Homer? That’s Groening’s actual dad. Before “The Simpsons,” Homer was just a Greek poet.

The Simpsons live on Evergreen Terrace, not to be confused with Evergreen Way. Springfield isn’t based on Everett, though the cartoon’s recurring tire fires have led some to speculate the inspiration was the epic tire fire here that burned for months.

The couple had no idea about the show’s local roots.

“It’s pretty cool there’s an Everett connection,” Swanson said.

She grew up in Seattle and McMeans is from Central Washington. When they’re not helping save lives or deliver babies, they’re busy tending to their acreage teeming with weeds, frogs and the occasional hungry guest.

“An otter came up from the river and ate all our fish,” McMeans said.

Homer is just the right amount of weird.

“It could get tacky real quick if we added too much,” Swanson said.

“Sometimes he still scares me when I walk outside at night and forget he’s there,” McMeans said.

You’d think a city this lush with arborvitae hedges would be crawling with Homers.

“We don’t need to give people our address anymore,” Swanson said. “We just say, ‘Look for Homer.’”

Got a story for “What’s Up With That?” Hit me up at reporterbrown@gmail.com or 425-422-7598.