Nature Notes - AM

My Front Yard

For my nature notes, I decided to describe my front yard (it’s not because I’m lazy, I swear, I just know my front yard better). The yard is not made of grass. Instead, my dad planted irish moss and microclover in patches. The moss still hasn’t grown into a uniform covering, so they mostly look like little mounds scattered around the yard. In front of this there are lavender bushes, which have not flowered yet. Because our yard is so unique, people stop to look at it and talk about it all the time, which is funny because we have a large front window and can see everytime they do it. On one side of the yard there are three nursery trees. I know one of them is a magnolia but I’m not sure about the other two. The magnolia blossomed earlier this spring into white, star-shaped flowers, and then all the petals slowly fell to the ground. It would have made a nice time-lapse. Now, all three trees have leaves and one has little pink buds. I hope it blossoms soon. The thing I spend the most time looking at in my front yard, is the trees next to the street. They are big linden trees. Somehow, I find them fascinating at all times of year. Since we have lived in this location since I was two, I have sat on the couch and stared at them on many occasions. In the fall and winter they are bare, spidery looking, gloomy against the grey sky. In the spring (right now) they grow lots of leaves and the sunlight filters through them. In the summer they smell sweet because they drop tons of sticky sap everywhere. They attract tons of birds. You can hear them singing even today in the rain. Most of them are black-capped chickadees or birds I believe I have identified as common starlings. However one summer there was this really annoyed dove that would make noise outside my window and wake me up. (I have identified it as a eurasian collared dove, go look up the sound it makes and imagine hearing that all morning). Right now it is 11 in the morning. The sky is overcast and there is a light rain. The feeling might be slightly gloomy, but calming. It is quiet because not many people go out in this weather, but you can hear the occasional bird call. The linden trees are covered in layers of green leaves, the neighbours garden has bright red and pink flower bushes that are in full bloom right now. Everything smells fresh, it’s a rain smell and a spring smell. The moss is fuzzy and damp.