Happiness In The Back Yard

I think some of life’s simplest pleasures can usually be found much closer than you think. In this fast paced world we live in, it’s so very easy to get caught up in “the grind” and all the activities that we busy ourselves with, that we sometimes forget to just stop and look around us.

My backyard is one of those places I like to go to just take a breather and slow down for a minute. Well, more than a minute, if I’m being completely honest. I didn’t use to have an excuse to just go out there and walk around, but I do now…

Layla, 5 months old

We got Layla, a Siberian Husky mix, about two months ago. It was Abby’s birthday and Mammaw’s dog just happened to have had puppies that were just the right age to go home with some sweet little girl that didn’t have a dog 🙂  And so, home with us she came!

Oh my goodness, if there were words to describe how many times I literally thought we were going to have to get rid of her… I’ve never seen a dog that skittish and shy, afraid of everything coming or going, moving or not. After we got her home, she laid in the same spot for a whole day. We moved her and gave her a bath and she refused to move, eat or drink, going into the second day.

We finally did get her to eat some treat-type foods and drink some water, and then came the accidents. So we put a leash on her collar and took her outside. First of all, we had to carry her, because she wouldn’t walk at all. Then once we were outside and we put her down, she just collapsed and lay there until we were tired of standing over her. 😦 It really made me sad!

But, thankfully, now she’s nothing like that little scared, lethargic puppy we brought home! Now, she loves nothing more than to run and play and hide her toys from us. She has her own bed and play area and YES, she begs! While we’re eating she goes around the table, sitting ever so majestically, and then when you’re not looking she will shove a knee with her nose, and then resume her majestic posture as if to say, “Okay, I was just makin’ sure you knew I was here!”  🙂  I love her.

And her very, most favorite thing of all to do is to let us know she wants to go outside and play. And thus leads us to the playground in our own back yard.

I especially love it after a rain, or first thing in the morning when the dew is still on the grass.

Water drops look like jewels on this blade of grass!

Abby and I absolutely love taking pictures of water droplets on the grass and foliage. I mean, really, how many times do we actually stop to notice something, so beautiful, that’s right under our noses, literally? The beauty of things like this are simply beyond compare!

Look closely at the reflection in this droplet…that’s science!

I’m so thankful to be able to see it, to witness a kind of manna that we humans still get to see, if we take the time to look. Why, in some situations, dew or drops of water on greenery can spell the difference between life and death in a survival situation. One of the first things they teach in preparedness is how to gather water in this way. And yet, most of the time, we walk right past without noticing, as if it’s not actually the miracle that it is.

Abby’s favorite shot…”The Dream”

Ah, that picture right there, folks…that’s why Abby is a better photographer than me 🙂  She sees shots like this with her naked eye and then she gets down to get the perspective she wants, and then gets it. She’s amazing in her abilities. Yes, we can look down and see something like this, but with a shot taken at this angle, in macro setting with the light and the background just right…it’s amazing, and forever captured.

I like flowers too. I can’t grow them, Lord knows, as I have the polar opposite of a green thumb. What would that be, a black thumb? Whatever it is, it causes every flower I try to grow to wither and then die in the most horrible fashion. Thank goodness God knew my heart and spread a few dainties around the back yard…

A cornflower that bloomed overnight.

This flower is about the size of a nickel and they are all over the place in the back yard. If you look closely, you’ll see that this one is missing a petal. That’s because Layla ran over it and knocked it off. Abby didn’t want to photograph it at that point, but I asked her to anyway. Because, don’t you know, even imperfect things can still be beautiful 😉

I don’t know what the name of these flowers is but aren’t they beautiful? Again, Abby’s handiwork with a lens is due the credit. But this is another tiny treasure that’s so easy to pass by…I’m not even sure that any of these blooms are as big as a dime. In fact, I’m sure they aren’t, but if you really pay attention, you can appreciate this raw beauty. It’s a beauty that is even mentioned in the Bible…

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27

If you aren’t familiar with King Solomon, son of King David, then you ought to look him up and read about all of “his glory”. To say that he was not even arrayed, or as beautiful and stunning, as a flower, is reeeeeally saying something!

Now, sometimes, we go into the backyard at night too, and that’s a whole new set of things to see. It’s so peaceful and quiet out there, and since we are in a very rural area, it’s so easy to look up and see the stars and the moon. Now that the weather is cooling down a bit, it’s absolutely refreshing to be out there.

A full, blue moon overhead, shrouded slightly by the fog.

A security light off in the distance gives a bit of light, but it’s faint from our house.

And I think I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy thunderstorms and rain and clouds and the like. I’m not sure why and I will probably never know, but it’s just so calming for me. And sleeping when the rain is driving down and the thunder cracks often… I’m like a baby in a crib 🙂 !!

Clouds rolling in at dusk over the nearby football field.

As always, thanks for stopping by for this little pictoral stroll through my back yard. I do hope you enjoyed it and that will return again. Be blessed, my friends!

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