His Very Own Backyard

We bought a house yesterday.

We are very excited about this house for a number of reasons.  It’s ours…we can do with it as we please.  Granted, we can no longer rely on a landlord to foot the bill for any repairs but no longer relying (and waiting) on a landlord is very attractive to us.

Perhaps the most exciting part of this for me is that Samuel will have his very own back yard to grow up in.  I have very fond memories of the back yards I grew up in.  The earliest two that I remember were houses that my family rented.  The first had a simple A-frame swing-set that sadly we had to leave behind, though I can’t remember why.  The second had a very sloped yard.  We attempted a volleyball net back there but it was a bit difficult to play on a “court” that slopes down 2 feet.  I also recall awesome oak trees in the front and many fall days spent with the family raking up oak leaves.

The third house I remember spending lots of time in was a home my parents bought when I was eleven.  I spent seven beautiful years in that front and back yard.  After we had been there for about a year, my parents gave me a trampoline for my birthday.  Hours upon hours were spent on that trampoline over the next years.  One year, in winter when there was going to be a freeze in San Antonio, we had the brilliant idea to turn the water sprinkler on in the back yard for a little while to make some icicles.  Oops…we forgot to turn it off and woke the next morning to an awesome winter wonderland in our back yard.  The trampoline resembled a Massachusetts pond perfect for ice-skating and the trees had massive icicles that looked more like giant stalactites.  I wish I could show you a picture, but they are currently three hours away from me right now.

The front yard of this house was simple and small but had a beautiful Carolina Ash.  I loved to climb up in this tree and be invisible to the surrounding work but be able to see all that was going on.  I had several perches that I would prop myself up in and read for hours.

Greg never had his own backyard to grow up in but I know he wouldn’t complain for a second about being a bike-ride away from the North and South Jetties in Venice with surf-board in hand.  We can’t wait for the day to share that particular “back-yard” with Samuel.

His backyard will be special too.

He will have a garden to get his hands dirty in, watch the fruits of our labor grow and then enjoy eating them.  He will get to watch his own Japanese Maple Tree grow with him.  He will get to learn with Mama and Daddy how to care for the strawberry patch throughout the year.  He will get to run around with many of the neighborhood friends that’s we already have.  He will get to help me pick pecans in the fall and watch our Crepe Myrtles bloom in the spring.  And beginning next March, he will get to feed our chickens with me and I’m sure he will want to chase them around the yard.  I can’t wait to watch Samuel grow up in his very own backyard.