A - Z Challenge: Yard

I didn't think that the letter Y would be the most challenging so far.  Heck, I can think of lists a yard long filled with Y-words.  But I found that writing about them was harder than it seemed.  Finding photos even harder.   And you all know I like pictures.

The word 'yard' kept popping into my mind and just kind of stuck there.  I thought about what having a yard means to me.  When I was a young apartment dweller in the city, I longed to have a back door.  I wanted to be able to step right out onto the earth.  I needed to stand beside my open window and smell the garden growing.  I needed a back yard.

Having a yard is a lot of work,  I discovered.  I have dug and carried tons of earth over the years.  I've planted and replanted gardens.  Spent hundreds of dollars in nurseries and plant sales.  When I think about it, most of  that has gone into the front and back yards.  But, in looking at some photos, I realized that there are side yards, too.  These are the work yards - the corridors for the wheelbarrows and booted feet.  Here's where the composter  and the rain barrel quietly take care of business. 

During the winter, the side yards look a little drab.  But once spring comes, they come to life. On the south side, the wisteria and roses  bloom, the ferns grow tall and finally the raspberries ripen.  Down the north side grow bracken, poppies and cornflowers.  The path is covered in moss which only gets more lush in the summer.  It's like having a carpet laid down.  Now maybe the attraction is that long narrow shape.  I don't know.  I just like being there.