Today I Saw a Leaf on the Property

You ought to see my real yard. The dead leaves of winter crunch beneath my feet. When I mow, debris flies everywhere. About four times a year, I clear the weeds off of my fence.

I keep the front yard mowed to keep the neighbors happy. The backyard is where I spend a lot of time, at least in the Spring. It's a wildscape--virginia creeper covers the ground, inland sea oats, Texas buckeyes from seeds I collected, a lot of small sumacs.

The birds like it too. I don't use pesticides, so there are insect eaters--wrens-- as well as seed eaters. I put up a feeder with sunflower seeds and get chickadees and a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers regularly.

That's nice. I hate keeping up appearances.

Not a bad piece of prose in all except i wouldn't have used first person since my idea of a nice garden is more natural, i use a rake to pick up the grass clippings when i cut the grass twice a year. I think parks are too neat and would rather go into a wood even if it is the size of a postage stamp compared to the park (which my local wood is).

I would love a nice yard, but my dog makes pits randomly all over it. I managed to get some roses to grow by putting wire enclosures that discourage the dog digging too close.