Virgil
Four Seasons
by , 05-01-2010 at 10:18 PM (2110 Views)
For the first time of this year today I did something I love doing – sitting, or more truthfully lounging, on my deck and reading, even catching a little catnap. It is really peaceful in the back and on a warm afternoon the only sound back there is that of the birds chirping and rustling through the trees, engaged in whatever social entanglements birds entangle themselves in. Now mind you, I don’t have a large backyard. I do live in the city, and city plots are small, and, while Staten Island is residential – suburban-esk, but I wouldn’t call it suburban but certainly not inner city New York - I do have an incredible private and serene space back there. Most of my city block neighbors hardly spend any time in their back yards, and my attached wall neighbor (my house is attached on one side) has no deck at all, so there is nothing for them to step out to. My non-attached neighbor does have a deck, a large one at that, but he’s told me that his family has allergies to, oh, nature I guess, and they hardly are ever back there, the sole occasion might be he, the father, out barbecuing on the grill, but bringing in a plate of food for the rest of the family.
But what makes my backyard especially private is that across from my yard is a convent with several acres of free space, filled with trees on the perimeter of the property. Now having nuns as neighbors is even better than good neighbors because nuns never have a ruckus party. Actually in the eighteen years I’ve lived here, I could probably count on my two hands days the nuns have had an outdoor event. And given the space between my house and their building – oh I would guess a couple of hundred yards – my back yard is sealed off from most city sounds. But what’s particularly wonderful is that the convent’s open center lawn and tall trees around the perimeter, including along the back of my property, induce many birds to visit and socialize. And given that Staten Island happens to have bird sanctuary parks, and being it’s along the coast, we do have a wide variety of bird species. And they do stop around my back, to my pleasure, diversion, and repose.
And so today I had the chance to finally relax for a couple of hours and lie on a lounge chair in the back and read …and snooze.With a nice glass of wine at my side I was able to nearly finish Hesse’s Steppenwolf which I had on hold for nearly a month. It was such a nice spring day, warmer than typical for this time of year and in the shade there was a cool breeze. Having finally completed the baby’s room renovations, I had absolutely no guilt feelings for doing nothing, though I know there are a host of other chores, but hey I completed a milestone and that deserves a perk.
So wine, the lounge chair, a good book, and tranquility. Ah, if heaven is like this…
Now in honor of Lady Wentworth, who had this marvelous idea about a year ago, I have taken pictures of a view of my back from the deck for all four seasons. Whatever happened to Lady Wentworth? She was such an endearing young lady. About a year ago she posted four pictures from the same spot of her back, each taken in one of the four seasons. I thought that was such a great idea that I did this same this past year myself and was hoping to share that with her. But it’s probably been a year since she’s been back to Lit Net, and so I will finally take this opportunity to post these pictures now without her. I do hope everything is well with you, Lady Went, and that one day you come back here.
So here are eight pictures (two for each season since I could not capture a complete view with one angle) taken for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
That is my weeping cherry blossom in spring time bloom.
Flowers and potted vegetable plants in the summer. You can see the convent trees in the back.
Things fading in the fall.
And winter snow.
Hope you found this interesting.
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