Escape to the Yard

Kodi growled softly some time during the night. He was lying on his dog bed on the floor near our bed. He doesn't usually growl during the night, and except for the growl he didn't budge from his bed. I should remember that a low growl, however brief, means something. I walked out to the garden this morning to turn on the drip irrigation (it is still quite dry here) and noticed a few okra tops missing. I immediately looked over at the Swiss chard to see a few tall leaves that I was about to harvest gone. A deer jumped the fence again.

Fortunately there was minimal damage, but our fence with its streamers of colorful flagging has been penetrated. I think we'll just have to put up with a little bit of deer herbivory. There really is plenty to go around.

Although we didn't get around to hooking up the drip irrigation in the three raised beds in the backyard, the plants are lush and wild. I hand water every few days. Only the cucumber leaves are yellowing. The cantaloupes are full of buds, the zucchini and crookneck yellow squash yield fruits each day, the winter squash have set fruit, and the speckled swan gourd is flowering -- large snow white flowers.

The mother robin is still sitting on her nest. She and her mate are relishing the fruits of the alternative-leaved dogwood in the front yard.

This week I noticed more bees and dragonflies and butterflies buzzing and flitting about. Bees were busy in the purple bee balm while the hummingbirds continued to patrol the red bee balm for nectar.

Our yard and the gardens are a small oasis away from the ugly news that bombards us each day. Weeding and watering and moving wheelbarrows full of compost are a wonderful escape from the phone, the computer, and even the radio. A walk around the yard, smelling the flowers, watching a tiny spider hunt among a flower, even collecting Japanese beetles is my form of walking meditation. It works wonders for me.