The Oh-So-Green Sanctuary

Before a man and a woman could see, nature had its place all over the world; it was untouched
and at peace. Before a snake slithered and hissed in the woman’s ear to eat the
forbidden fruit, nature was in no danger of being cut down and replaced by
corporate buildings and chain stores; it was immaculate and tranquil. Nothing
can compare to the majesty of nature, especially trees with leaves as green as
envy. To many, nature is something to be protected. The sanctity of it encourages
people to take it home with them and make it their own, ultimately creating a
very green front yard.

When my family first bought our house, there was little to no plant life. There was a rusty make shift fence that you could open and close. Going along with the old and rusty theme was the
stained, dark brown fence which matched the crusty faded grey wood that was our roof. The wood was chipping away to make it look increasingly older and when damp from rain, the wood grew darker, making it look morose against the really light pink that the house once was. There was gravel and bark everywhere: the mess of the gravel and bark made the front yard appear as if it had been neglected for years. Once the gravel and bark had been cleared out, the yard
had already seemed more clean and open. Being a child when we first moved in, all I seemed to want to do was roll in the grass we could now call our own. However, the grass was dry and granular and after only a couple minutes of rolling, tumbling, and diving into it, I would find myself in desperate need of finding some sort of scratching tool to satisfy the burning itch. Not only was it dry and granular but the grass’ color was beginning to fade. It had become a
gross yellowish puke-green color, which I can only assume is the grass’ way of
saying, “Water me, water me!”

Over the course of the first couple years we were in this house, our front yard experienced our version of an extreme home makeover. The grass was watered; a mini hedge was grown to keep dogs and other animals from defecating on our lawn; a pear tree was planted; roses began to bloom after hydration brought them back to its full potential.

Even though we had restored our front yard to a new found glory, we could not salvage its color and brightness during the cold winter season. All the pears that had bloomed from flowers into juicy fruit, all the roses that grew big bright, all the perfectly trimmed hedges are gone. The pears have fallen to their doom and the leaves have floated away, joining the geese that have gone south for the winter. The hedges have grown wild and untamed. Its perfume whispers into the air, sunlight shines on its perfection, the colors amplify their allure: once the roses, with thick dark green stems and blood red thorns, fully bloomed, they were where your eyes would first land when passing the house on the street. Now that winter has come, the roses have been cut down and have become little fat green stubs with faded red thorns with nothing but red
brick as their background. The small hedge around the edge of the lawn has become a yellow-green that brings to mind the transition from summer to fall, even though we are in the middle of winter. The cold of this dismal season has done nothing but turn the green of the grass into a yellow-green, yet once the rain comes down, it turns the grass into dewy hell, covering anyone who dares roll in it with sludge.

The lemon trees are what most people can not get enough of. Everything about the lemon tree- bright and yellow, sweet and sour, shiny and green- seems to entice people. The lemon has a bumpy yet ultimately smooth surface and is massive. The largest lemon that we grew was even vaster than my own fist, granted I have abnormally tiny fists. The leaves the lemons grew on were a perfect green in the spring and summer time but now have a slight yellow tinge to them. They are cut finely on the top to stop the tree from hastily growing enormous.

Another eye-catcher growing in my front yard are the plants at the beginning of the walkway shaped into a peacock and a turtle. Shaping plants into animals has become a hobby of my mom’s, having previously created a teddy bear and an elephant. Although these do not come off as impressive in a picture, appearing washed out into the background due to its identical coloring to the lemon tree, the hedges, and the grass, they are quite awe-inspiring in person.

Nature acts like a sanctuary to those driven insane by this generation’s over use of technology. Nature is a quiet place to just relax and take in the sky, breathe in the yet-to-be-contaminated air, and bask in the greenness of it all. And a front yard drenched in green, although slightly bare form the winter’s cold, is not a bad place to do just that.

-- Mika S.