Last week I asked you readers to share your (literal) views with me, and here's what a few of you sent me:
It seems like I spend the most time looking out my kitchen window in the summer when I do my canning, freezing, dehydrating. And most of the time I see my side yard with a pine tree that was a wedding favor at our wedding, a couple weeks short of 25 years ago now. My aunt planted it in her garden until we were home owners and then she gave it to us. There’s a small flower bed in front of it, with a little white picket fence piece framing my mom’s old Schwinn bicycle, seasonal flowers/pumpkins/greenery in the basket.
Beyond our side yard is our neighbor’s house where the new neighbors have a pair of kittens that take up their posts in the windows to watch back at me!
Jen, Grand Forks, North Dakota
*****
When I look up from the desk in my office over the garage, I see the trunks of trees in our woods. Tiny russet buds are erupting from the twigs of one tree. The rest of the woods is still bare except for the evergreens that cling to their needles throughout the long, snowy winter. Through the tree trunks, I glimpse the lake, reflecting a blue sky and the trees and houses on the far side of our bay. Soon the water will be warm enough to plunge in. Then I will see the passing boats of our neighbors and hear the shouts of my grandchildren, but on those days, you can bet I won’t be watching from my office window!
LeAnne, northwestern Wisconsin
*****
When I look outside this morning, I am warmed by a small sense of pride seeing yesterday’s work spread out on the grass. I’m talking about a dirty pool tarp. This vantage point, does not confront me with the still dirty pool, which is okay by me. Don’t get me wrong, I am actually looking forward to relieving the pool of its leaf collection, but it isn’t a beauty in its current sludgy state. Instead, I see the chairs tipped in last night's storm, vibrant grass, and a corner of the sunroom that is getting a more expansive look at what I am seeing from bed, like an incentive to get up for the day (kind of a meager reward, but who knows? Maybe something exciting is happening on the right side of the yard).
Todd, Oak Grove, Minnesota
*****
Note: I thanked Jen for sharing her view with us, bringing us a sense of home, and she said, “It was fun to actually see what I look at.”
Today, reader, may you actually see what you look at!
