The Little Wonders In Our Not (Yet) So Wonderful Backyard

(My blank canvass. Wait 'til I turn it into a master piece or a haven whichever is doable.)

The Little Wonders In Our Not (Yet) So Wonderful Backyard

Lj Schroeder

Growing-up in our grandparents' house with a huge yard abounding in trees (star apples, coconuts, guava, mangoes, aratiles, avocado, jackfruit, bananas etc.) stirred my love for nature and the outdoors. My cousins and I had more than enough ground to explore during our curious, energetic years. I remember searching for house spiders inside our kweba (cave) for an insect match, catching fireflies at night and peaking inside our little hands to see if they do light up or sneaking after dragonflies or butterflies to check their colors or when I was stung by a family of bees while picking star apples one afternoon. Ouch!

When I moved to the metropolis- Manila from the province- Bicol one of the things I knew I was going to miss were the trees in our yard. But God answered my silent longings by allowing me to work in a company with a dormitory that was located in a more province-like part of the metro, surrounded by old trees mostly mangoes and star apples to my delight.

Quite the opposite happened when I, once again, relocated to the US and settled down with my husband in a beautiful valley called Rancho Cucamonga. Most neighborhoods here don't have much land area but majority of them have pretty flowers or a well-maintained yard. My husband however, is not really into gardening (I love him still) resulting in the present condition of our yard. Not that it's bad or ignored or trashed. There's just not much in there, yet I can see the potential. Or probably I just have too much spare time while I'm waiting for my elusive Green Card. (That's another post.) Anyway, it doesn't mean there's no beauty in an (almost) blank canvass or in this case backyard, right?

So while I am in the process of converting our small piece of land into something exciting, I captured a few little things of beauty or interest in our soon-to-be WONDERFUL backyard. That's the goal. :)

(A tiny, wild yellow flower amidst our almost dying grass.)

(Frequent visits from hummingbirds.)

(A rare appearance by a blue bird. I don't know what type of bird.)

(Not ours, but they've crossed the fence- our neighbor's lemons.)

(More colors and life come spring! My new flowers-primrose survived winter. Yay!)

(Herbs- parsley, sweet basil and mint. My sweet basil are not looking too good right now though. :()