A Backyard tour

A week ago or so Slate had an article about suburban lawns and how much the author hates plastic play equipment for kids. I have to sort of agree, although I think he and most people who passionately dislike plastic toys are a little hard to take. But I agree that most elaborate play equipment is rarely used. We don't have any swing sets or similar things in our yard, and my boys play outside for the better part of each day lately. (Turns out May in Dayton has some really great weather!) My older neighbor commented to me awhile ago that my boys were very creative (thank you!) and she'd never seen kids spend so much time playing with only a long rope and some sticks. Anyway, the article got me thinking about our yard and what the boys like most about it. The places they spend their time are not the places most adults would expect, and in fact I think most of them would be landscaped away by many people. Here's our backyard:

I asked Joseph and Caleb to show me their favorite places back there. This scraggly old tree was their first favorite place when we moved into this house. It's easy to climb and they've spent a long time being howler monkeys in it:

Next is a pine tree in the corner. It's tough to climb but has a great little secret area under the branches. Today it was Caleb's "construction zone":

Next is the "big climbing tree" good for peeking out into the park behind our house on the lookout for ice age predators that might be sneaking up:

Along the back fence is the designated garden area. Since we're renting we haven't put any thought into a garden, but Joseph sure has. This is the area where he plants his apple seeds, and today we planted this pretty impatiens the boys picked out at the store yesterday:

This next one was a surprise to me; I had no idea Joseph had a "poison pit" in our very own backyard, but there it was, an old pipe he puts a stick down to stir his poison brew. He also thinks it might be a useful rocket launching pad:

Next is this infernal mud hole that the boys love and I loathe. It started out as a big hole that was just waiting for someone to twist an ankle in, so we tried filling it in with some dirt. They boys dig it back out, and it is their "pond." Joseph is waiting for the frogs to move in, and he thinks maybe ducks or geese would like to stop by for a drink if they're thirsty. After it rained a few days ago they were thrilled to see a few water insects floating around on it. Yesterday they sailed our seven year old neighbor girl's little boat on it. She didn't get the tiniest bit dirty. Joseph was covered in mud.

Finally we have our very own buttercup meadow in the middle of the yard. They are so lovely and attract little butterflies, and I don't know how I could ever think of them as weeds. In the second picture note Joseph has some dandelions in his hand. For the past few days he and Caleb have spent hours picking dandelion stems from the lawn and throwing them in the garbage can. How can I argue with that?

In the Slate article the author quotes Michael Pollan (who I really like!) in his book Second Nature: "To a four-year-old, though, the space made by the vaulting branches of a forsythia is as grand as the inside of a cathedral, and there is room enough for a world between a lilac and a wall."

It is true.