Bush Whacker

This weekend came the dreaded time to hit the yard and do all the things that have been left lapse over the summer. We have trimmed all the bushes around the house and cut and cleaned out areas.
A few weeks ago I bought this new gazebo thing and I'm ready to get it up and in the yard. But we have alot of trimming to do first. Plus the grass needs to be mowed before we put it out.

Just normal yard work. I'm looking forward to cooler weather and the chance to sit out on the patio under the stars and have a cup of coffee. Our back yard is a sanctuary, it's plenty of room for Ginger to run and play and there are birds, a falcon and a good view of the sky. Of course we are next to a huge mall and smack dab in the middle of town so the quiet night air is split with the sound of police sirens and ambulances constantly, but it's still nice.

One problem we have with our yard is the Mall next door. Their powerful parking lot lights bathe our yard all night, turning evening into dusk. It's never really dark here. But the backyard and patio are shielded behind the house and offer a small area of dark solitude.

At heart I'm just a country boy and I love the woods and nature. I grew up in a small town and the forest across the street from my home was my playground. I had miles of woods to explore and I knew every inch of them.

I remember how quiet the forest could be. There were birds and animals, and the sound of the creek but for the most part it was solitude. So for me, the back yard is a quarter acre cut-out of my little section of solitude in a bigger city.

It's funny, Edith grew up in Mexico City - the third largest city in the world. To her, this is the country. I grew up in a small town. Just a few stores and an interstate out of town. To me this is a big city compared to the little village I am used to. Where I was raised everyone hunted, fished and spent time in the forest. You were never far away from large expanse's of wooded land. No police sirens, no ambulances. In my town if you heard an ambulance something major was happening and the whole street turned out to see and help. Here, the night air is stabbed by the sound of an ambulance six or seven times an evening. No one cares. Some poor bloke died, carry on. Sad really.

So it's important to hold on to at least a tiny half acre of back yard. Maybe in some way I'm holding on to the distant memory of a time when people were less callous. When the sound of trouble brought the whole town out to help. When people were still human and not the robots society has made us become.

It's my back yard dammit and I dare you to try to take it away. LOL I have my trusted best friend, my dog and my lady, Edith. Perhaps it's a protective nature built into men. On some level we have to provide and then protect, even if it's a tiny square on an island of concrete. Divide and conquer!

So this fall I'll have the patio and the yard and the gazebo and the sky. We will have tiki lamps to light it and friends can come and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we re-enter the concrete jungle and fight for survival!

But there will be a place, a tiny half-acre of santuary for me and mine.

And screw the rest of you robots! hehehehe.

J.