My New View

Not long ago my son and I switched rooms. His bedroom is now in the basement, and my office is upstairs, overlooking the backyard. I didn’t particularly want to switch rooms, but it meant a lot to him…and well, you know how it goes.

So now, instead of looking at four walls and seeing light pour into a little window, all while listening to the washer and dryer, my desk now faces the backyard. And because sometimes the words don’t come as easy as I would like while I write, I’ve recently begun to take notice of a lot of things outside.

We have two new things in our backyard this summer. The first is a bird feeder. It's hanging on a black iron holder right next to a maple tree that has recently grown by leaps and bounds. Birds have discovered it, and I’m constantly filling the thing. And constantly watching for my new favorite pair of birds…a male and female cardinal. Now, Kara Lennox is a bird watcher extraordinaire! I’m just a cardinal watcher, I’m afraid. But I do get a kick out of seeing them together. I’ve never really been a fan of birds, but this pair is making me wonder if maybe I’ve been missing out on something and didn’t even know it.

The other new thing in our backyard is a garden my husband and son planted. There’s all kinds of things growing in it~ tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers. But the star of the show is my son’s pumpkin plant. Oops, excuse me, GIANT PUMPKIN plant. When they put the little plant in the ground, it was kind of cute. It fit in the little area, and we all envisioned a pumpkin or two for Halloween. Boy, were we wrong! I am pretty sure it grows at least a foot a day. It’s grown outside the wooden ties that border the garden, and just keeps growing…and going!

Frankly, my daughter and I find it a little scary. Its leaves are bigger than Phoebe-the-beagle’s head. We have to check it often to make sure it doesn’t go through the fence and into our neighbor’s yard. And so far, we’ve counted eight blooms. Eight! The thing’s enormous. People who know plants and gardens more than we do (which is pretty much everyone!) say we were idiots~I guess pumpkin vines need a place of their own. Right now, I’d guess that it’s trying to take over our whole backyard. I’ll let you know if it wins.

Oh, on another note…for those of you who might remember my Day of Extreme in Costa Rica…our family leaves for West Virginia tomorrow, with the highlight on Thursday being Class V rapids on the New River. However, I will not be white water rafting. Nope, I have a pedicure scheduled at a nearby spa.

I can’t tell you who’s more excited. : )

Shelley