Our Backyard Has Become a Nature Sanctuary

Recently, our backyard has become a nature sanctuary.

My husband and I live in the suburbs, close to downtown. There are some things about my neighborhood that aren’t always ideal. For instance, sometimes our neighborhood can be a little noisy and wild.

But one thing I love about my house is that we have a spacious back yard with lots of trees in it.  We do our best to make the most of the yard.

My husband built some swings and monkey bars for us to play around on.

And we like having friends over for something we call backyard gym. We all plays the swing and monkey bars. And we play with parachutes, juggling, and other fun equipment. I think grown ups need to play, just like children do.

We have also been doing some renovations in our yard this summer. We tore down an old shed that has been there for over thirty years (and was falling apart). And we put up a new one.

I planted a little garden, which I haven’t been able to do for a while. My tomatoes and basil are coming along nicely.

I’m pretty new to gardening, but I like learning as I go along.

And the other day I built a stone labyrinth in the corner of our yard that I am enjoying so much.

You can read more about our labyrinth here.

I love all these things about my back yard. But what I probably love about it most is the wildlife that visits.

We have a wild bunny that frequents our yard regularly. He likes to meditate in our flower garden and hop around the rest of the yard. Here are some pictures of him:

All of these wildlife pictures are courtesy of my husband.

Recently, our bunny has been bringing a friend, and they explore the yard together. (We haven’t been able to get a picture of them together yet).

And we also have a groundhog that visits our about once a month or every other month to check out what’s new. Here are some recent pictures of him:

Today we looked out our back window and, I kid you not, there was Mr. Groundhog in our stone labyrinth.

Today my husband realized that there was a nest of baby birds in a tree in our yard. And he got this beautiful picture.

I am actually quite surprised at all the magic that happens in our yard.

It often feels like cool things happen that I don’t expect or make happen. Like we just suddenly started having back yard gyms one day, and that was really fun. And they continue to grow and evolve into delightful, adventurous times with our friends.

And I didn’t really know how to grow a garden, but I started planting stuff one summer and learning. Now that is part of the back yard magic.

And I can’t really explain how my back yard has become a nature sanctuary all of a sudden. I just enjoy it.

But I do know that the older I get, the more I try to practice curiosity, playfulness, awareness, hope, love, and wonder. And I think that is part of the magic, too.

I’m grateful.

*****

Where has magic showed up unexpectedly in your life lately? I would love to hear about it.

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By the way, this is a beautiful book about trees you might enjoy:

The Hidden Life of Trees