Ode to our back yard

When I look at our back yard, I think "a family lives here."

My parents' back yard is wide open. There are no fences in their neighborhood, so one yard blends into another to create a magical space. As a child, it was green grass as far as the eye could see.

Each afternoon, or first thing in the morning in summer, all the neighbor kids would gather in our common back yard to play. We'd make mud pies on one neighbor's back porch, climb on picnic tables and swing from rope swings, and jump from tire to tire at the neighborhood playground. In the evenings we played capture the flag. I remember running and laughing and warm summer nights.

As a teenager we sat on those same picnic tables. The play turned from mud pies to card games, but that back yard still held magic for me.

When I moved to Arizona, I missed that green, green grass. The desert has it's own kind of beauty, but grass is a part of me. When Ray proposed, I knew right away that I wanted our wedding reception to be held in my parents' back yard. To me, it's the most beautiful place I know. That night was magic, and the back yard was as beautiful as it's ever been.

Since then, Ray and I have dreamed of having a back yard of our own, with green grass for our children. We've had patios, but never grass. I wanted Emmett to grow up with a back yard. To play with roly polies, make mud pies and run through sprinklers. I want him to have a childhood like mine.

 We have that now, in our sweet little rental home. A back yard of our own, with green grass. This little rental isn't ours, not really. But it's perfect for us now. It feels like home, and that back yard.. It's magic.