Joy of thatch

We've had a drought of sorts since mid July. The yard is looking brown. Upon closer inspection, the brown isn't grass, it's THATCH!

I noticed the stuff when I planted grass seed in a spot J wanted grass. The grass grew but got trapped under it. It looked like cat vomit.

Having thatch defeats the point of having the yard treated. Team Green Lawn and Buckeye Ecocare made the yard a thatch haven.

Now I am going Quixote and reclaiming the yard. I bought a thatch rake from Lowe's this morning and a yard's worth of seed from Big Lots. I hope to have the backyard done before my birthday when it usually rains a lot.