Lisa's Lines

It’s all about perspective

My family has the most beautiful lawn in our neighborhood, according to those aged 9 years and younger.

We have bursts of yellow, white, and purple scattered throughout the lush green bed of clover—yes, clover—that carpets our yard. There has to be a few blades of grass out there… We did dump $$$ into grass seed our first summer after building our new home, but honestly… it’s mostly clover.

Are you cringing?

Those of you who put effort into having beautiful yards are probably horrified. You would probably drive by our house and question, “Why don’t they do something about their yard?”

Well, the truth is, after building a new house, we don’t have the green (dollars) to invest in a green, grassy yard. We just aren’t there yet. It will come with time (after things like furniture and window treatments), but for now, we’re choosing to enjoy our haphazardly “beautiful” yard.

Clover is lovely to walk on while barefoot—especially when you don’t mow it for awhile. It’s so soft! Plus, there’s the bonus of being surrounded by pretty white and purple clover flowers, which provide a sweet smell that attracts the pleasant buzz of bumbles.

And, our yellow dandelions are a hot commodity in our all-girl neighborhood!

One lazy afternoon, my younger daughter, Ellen, and I sat in a dandelion patch for hours, talking and making dandelion crowns and necklaces. Then, after seeing Ellen’s oh-so-amazing new floral look, the neighbor girls flocked to our yard to make their own dandelion accessories.

Both my daughters are thrilled to have the only “beautiful” yard in the neighborhood, so I took a picture of them wearing their freshly woven green-and-golden crowns while sitting in the mess of clover, dandelions, and creeping charlie that is our yard and posted it on Facebook. I titled it: “We have the most beautiful yard! It’s so colorful!” The response was hilarious.

At least 20 friends commented on how wonderful our yard is for bees. They posted: “Don’t spray them!” “Yeah for the bees!” and “It is BEE-utiful!”

Ironically, none of them were my neighbors (who are usually quick to comment).

I’m guessing my neighbors with their beautiful green, grassy lawns were cringing, but weren’t about to post anything that might come off as being insensitive to us or the endangered bee population.

Neighbors, I’m grateful for your kindness and patience. I, too, cringe when the wind blows our white, fluffy balls of dandelion seeds your way. Sorry!

We will not have clover, dandelions, and creeping charlie forever. We do aspire to have a yard of lush green grass one day… But, until then, I’ll hang out with my kids and your kids in my “beautiful” yard and teach them how to make dandelion crowns and listen to the bumbles buzz around us as we talk about all the wonderful things little girls talk about when surrounded by flowers.

All too soon, I’ll have a green, grassy lawn and our daughters will be grown.

Hopefully, by that time, my flower garden will be well established to feed those all-important bumbles and our girls will have wonderful memories of summers filled with dandelions and laughter. I know I will.