Over the years, we have worked on making our back yard a welcoming place to be. It is conducive to gatherings and quite time. The grape vines produce an abundant crop of grapes, the apple trees usually have a decent bounty of apples. The mayday tree provides lots of shade, the Manitoba maple is a large character tree that supports a hammock. We have a place to sit around the fire pit, a large BBQ, and a dart board for a friendly game of darts and don’t forget the patio lanterns.

Big deal. Sounds mostly like a normal backyard, what’s so special about this?

It may be that the yard is special because we constructed it in our vision. We planted all of the trees, built the fire pit, designed the layout of the yard. It may also be that when I was a young lad, I wanted a back yard just like this. The fire pit and the hammock especially were ideas from my youth; Icons that defines a back yard. In 2009, we put in a decent size BBQ and grill area with some indoor / outdoor modular flooring. It was around that time that we decided to update our lawn furniture. This year, we are replacing the fence. Every year, we try to add a few touches to the backyard. We got a tremendous amount of use out of the backyard in 2009. Last year, was a wet and cool spring and we did not get near as much use. This year, we are making a very conscious effort to use the yard regardless of the weather.

I am very thankful for this little oasis in the city. It is especially gratifying to realize that the adult-me has helped create and give something that my child-me has desired. It is great to be fatherly to one’s inner child. 🙂

I like to sit in my backyard. I go out on the hammock and sit in silence and kind of meditate. Nature is calming, and it’s nice to go out there and clear my head. ~ Devon Werkheiser