(Forgive me if I sound maudlin.)
Sitting in my plastic Adirondack, flip-flop clad feet propped up, a Dickie's cup in hand (my version of fine crystal) I survey my surroundings...
It's my backyard... my happy place. Sure, it's got a killer view, but it's SO much more than just a yard... it's a lifetime of memories.
See that hill over there?
My friends and I dared each other to ride our bikes down it when we were kids... maybe 9 years old? Flying over grass and roots... not stopping until we hit the base of the dock. Over and over again.
That low hanging oak branch over there?
Jamey, Tate and I built a tree fort on it... we dragged boards from my Dad's workshop into the mud, using empty paint cans as steps, balancing and nailing our 'fort' to the tree. We got in SO much trouble for that! My parents were so pissed that we made such a mess. But that tree fort was OURS... scavenged and pieced together by us, not some pre-fab stuff bought at Home Depot (which, I will add, is what my kid had, but times are different some how right?) That's how we rolled in the 80's , haha.
See that low palm by the dock?
It's hardly grown, in 36 years. While playing Indians, I'd strip the 'hairs' off of its fronds and pretend I was sewing. We would gather wisteria pods, oyster shells, and Buckeyes to make 'stew.' Always outside playing some sort of imaginary game.
That old dock... it used to have a floating dock attached. I'll never forget the day our black lab Buffy decided to take a flying leap in pursuit of some leftover shrimp peelings my Mom had dumped. Buffy got stuck in the plough mud and started yelping. I was terrified she was going to drown in the muck, so I started hollering. Mom yelled for Dad, who was in the shower, and next thing I knew, here came Dad, fresh from the shower, running down the bluff barefoot, plucking Buffy out of the mud, the both of them then covered in it. I couldn't have been more than about seven years old, but I remember it like it was yesterday!
There are so many stories in this yard... so many memories. The oak by the firepit where we found the baby raccoons (Roscoe and Pee-Rod), racing Periwinkle snails, finding the occasional piece of blue and white china left over from the old plantation that was here long before us... It's all a part of who I am.. where I want to be, and what I will remember for the rest of my life.
You see?
It truly is, so much more than just a yard.
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