Robin that have lavender growing in them

Robin that have lavender growing in them

Robin Pulliam Descriptive Essay August 31, 2011 English 111-95 My Own Backyard My own backyard is my favorite place to visit.

I say this because when I walk out my backdoor my senses come alive. I can enjoy the smells, sounds, and touch of nature. I use my backdoor as a place to escape from the real world and the tension of everyday life. It is like walking into another world. It is a place of serenity, where I can relax in my futon, forget about all my worries, and enjoy the view of my surroundings.

I can take a walk, and have the pleasure of seeing different varieties of nature. There is a different picture every time I open the door. As I open my backdoor, the pressures of life seem to go away instantly because I wonder what I am about to see. Because I never know what is outside those doors until I open them, the deck, which is sixteen feet by sixteen feet, is what I call my “room of magic. ” I open the door, and step out onto the balcony. On the left back corner is a futon that sits facing my backyard, and a swing hangs on the opposite back corner of the futon.There are also chairs and tables scattered throughout the deck for sitting.

Two large, decorative clay pots that have lavender growing in them sit at the entrance of the stairwell and two wooden barrels cut in half contain jasmine rest on the balcony in the center edges of the front and back columns. The two columns in the front of the deck have a Wisteria vine growing up them that connect in the middle column with grapelike clusters of lavender flowers growing from it until late fall.On the back columns, ivy vines grow that stay green all year. Reaching from one column to the other both vines give the deck shade by covering the top of the banisters surrounding the balcony and stretching to the roof as if they were walls covering a room. This is why I refer to it as a room. While sitting in my futon, I can look straight ahead and have a beautiful view of the mountains that surround my home. My backyard is a small patch of grass and clover that joins a forest of pines trees and oak trees that look like they touch the sky.

In the forest, a trail is leading to a man made pond, constructed for me by my husband, and of course, animals that need to take a rest and have a drink. The pond is thirty feet in diameter and six feet deep it is a hundred feet away from my backyard, and can be seen from my balcony Surrounding the pond are two layers of flagstone. One end of the pond has several layers of stones that make a waterfall from the trickling water coming from an underground water spring that comes out of the mountains; the opposite end has an overfill that has a small stream of two feet wide running from it.

Tall pink pampas grass grows on each side of the waterfall and waves in the wind as if saying hello to me every time I visit. The blue fescue grass surrounding the water shimmers as the sunlight reflects from it. I released four goldfish into the pond that I had in an inside tank in my home. They see my shadow on the water and come to the surface. Knowing it is time for them to eat, the fish start jumping in and out of the water, and this makes the lily pads bob in and out and move around to different areas of the pond as if they were moving to let the fish have their own room.

One fish in particular is my favorite. It is bright orange and has a white circle around its head. I can stoke my hand in the water, and it will come to me. I can hand feed this particle one, while the others keep at a distance. . During my walks to the pond, I can enjoy not only the scenery, but the wildlife as well.

There are cardinals tweeting at me while they jump from branch to branch in a huge oak tree swinging its branches like arms above me.Squirrels have big bulges in their jaws as if they had a wad of chewing tobacco in their mouth, from gathering acorns for winter storage, and deer bring their young to play and rest in the tall blue grasses that surround the pond for security. Night is a time of noises, the crickets chirping along with other insects echo in the darkness as if they are taking to each other, the frogs croaking, and the whippoorwills with a dull variegated plumage calling their own name. I am in and out of bed several times during the night; therefore, I can go on the deck to listen to these animals talking to each other.This gives me a calmness that I need to forget about my troubles, and I get the rest needed for me to function the next day. My husband says jokingly, “He is going to put a bed on the deck for me”. As the seasons change, I have a different picture to look at.

Spring is the time of year in my backyard for finding surprises. The wildlife has offspring, and they travel to my pond, bringing their young. Summer in my backyard is what I call my “aroma therapy” time of the year with the fragrance of lavender and jasmine circulating in the air.

Fall, to me is the most colorful and the most relaxing. The pine trees stay the same color, but the oak trees change to a tawny gold and a dark red color sometimes with a yellow mixed in. I should take a picture and have it put it on a postcard. Winter months I have more deer, maybe because of hunting season and they know they are safe on my property.

The oak trees have lost their leaves and I can see every branch. Their nakedness shows the structure of the tree more, and the directions it stretches toward the skies.The pond is more visible also, so I can see more of the animals that visit it.

I am glad that I have a private place to visit to relax and enjoy all that nature has to offer without any interference from any other humans. It is also my favorite place to escape from everyone and forget about all my troubles. My backdoor is also a very exciting place to use all my senses, or at least let me know that I am able to use them, which is another reason my backyard is my favorite place to visit.