The Patio

By Sarah

We have recently done some work in our front yard. Mostly we are preparing to landscape and have completed a brick patio with a stucco wall and bench surrounding it. As it gets up in the high 90’s almost every day here and 100 degrees is not unusual, this patio is our new escape; it is cool most of the day and is shaded by our wonderful, huge mulberry tree. Just past the new wall is a big pile of dirt. Next to that is a big pile of rocks. And, just beyond that is a little pile of extra bricks. Bricks, dirt, rocks, a big shady tree, a wall to hide behind? Yes, our yard is a wonderland! It is the hottest place for all the toddlers and preschoolers we know.

Daily our daughter scales the pile of dirt and yells “I am king of the mountain!” I correct her, “queen,” but who cares, really? She digs with shovels moving the dirt from here to there (a surprising amount ends up in her diapers). Then, when she is bored with that she sorts the rocks to find the very best ones. 

Next, she stands under the tree jumping and jumping trying to reach the big green leaves. The pile of bricks are her own little stairs to nowhere and the patio is her canvas to be colored with chalk. The wall and bench are the perfect surfaces for racing little cars or lining up treasures like pinecones, broken bird eggs and weeds. I can sit on the patio, sipping something with lots of ice cubes, occasionally assisting her as she hunts for bugs or rearranges things. It is really some of the best times we have had! 

Her friend down the street, a little boy just a couple months older than her, also gets in on the digging and running. Together they love to water the tree which consists of having to hold the hose and then eventually spray each other until they are thoroughly soaked before retiring to the patio for a few games of ring around the rosy. They are a marvelous sight to behold; so full of joy at the simplest things.

The other night after a cooling summer rain some friends came over for a post-dinner visit. The children, my 2-year-old and their 3 and 1-year-olds, played in the yard for about two hours as the sun went down and the temperatures cooled. They shoveled and run and giggled and scream and pulled grass and chased bugs and my friend and I looked at each other and wondered aloud why we even buy toys at all! 

I know when the winter drives us indoors and back to puzzles and blocks and play-doh this time on the patio will seem so far away…I am just enjoying every dirty, sweaty, exuberant moment while the summer sun lasts.    

Sarah Rachel Egelman is a community college instructor and free-lance book reviewer who lives in New Mexico with her husband and daughter.

Comments

[Janet]

You have made me want to live in your backyard...This was a pleasure to read.