by Matthew Segatti
“Perhaps the most radical thing we can do is to stay at home, so we can learn the names of the plants and animals around us; so that we can begin to know what tradition we’re part of.”
-Terry Tempest Williams
I enjoy my own yard as much as I enjoy a mountaintop. My lawn has patches and bare spots. There are grasses and flowers. I avoided mowing the area with blossoms and ferns began to grow. Sometimes I take the shortcut from my car to the front step. Walking across my lawn I look down on an artist’s canvas.
I enjoy a good view. I most appreciate how it changes my perspective. Seeing the forest laid out before me, so evenly green and rolling, I am reminded of moss-covered stones. I like looking to see any people like me out sunning on rocky outcroppings. When I lay on my belly, stretched out on my lawn, I see so many little critters. Not all scoot about on their missions. Some will take a moment, maybe perched along a blade of grass. I wonder how they think and if they think of me. And in thinking of them my perspective expands and I imagine my lawn the home to so much life previously unseen.
I’m glad to have the time to listen to the birds and the insects around where I live. It’s taken several years for me to grow comfortable with leaving the human bustle of the Berkshires for the earthly harmonies of the hilltowns. Without cell service or internet, I don’t look at my phone when I get home. I enjoy my wild yard.