Backyard Kingdom

 

I love my backyard. Wherever I live, I love it. These photos were taken...maybe last Winter?

I love poring over Herbal texts, contemplating the magical (and scientific, natural) powers of plants. 

I love that God made the outdoors magical and truly enchanting. It's the children who discover it first, who remind those who left the Enchanted wood and the Galleons Lap of A.A. Milne literature behind long ago. 

It's the children who show us the way again, who remind us. Because we certainly need reminding. 

I will never get over the color green. It speaks life to me. I want to be enveloped in it, to luxuriate and revel in its liveliness. Austin, Texas stays remarkably green in the Fall and Winter. I may miss the snowfall of Oklahoma, but I do find plenty to appreciate wherever I am. That isn't a "humble brag" about how content I am. God really made an incredible, beautiful world. Or, perhaps, I'm just lucky to happen to be in the most wonderful, beautiful places. 

The Italian by Ann Radcliffe was rather difficult to trudge through. I felt like I was dragging myself along with the characters through the Italian mountains. As someone new to the idea of monasteries and monks, asceticism and liturgy, I found this to be a particularly unsavory literary encounter. But when you have met an author and fallen in love with them through their writing before, (Mysteries of Udolpho), you are willing to trudge far and wide, knee-deep, and often uncomfortable just to be with them on the journey. Though I found the book to be uncharacteristically dull in places (compared to M of U, which was sheer joy), I couldn't help but admire her ingenious ability to weave an intricate and unpredictable plot. 

Ann, I still love you. :) 

Through novels, I get to travel all over time and the world, all from my own sunlit backyard. I feel rich, luxurious, and quite at my leisure on my quilted throne, if only for twenty minutes at a time. 

Sincerely,

Natasha

P S I would love to hear about your own backyard. Or perhaps front yard? Front porch? What do you do? Drink? Read? Tell me in the comments.