Polaroid shots of the front yard

 

Sunday, May 17, 1998 ~ Palisade, Colorado

The flowers are wonderful, but the most surprising are TREES. I don't remember living anywhere before where this happened so regularly. We now have 4 full-size trees in the yard (in 5 years!) that volunteered - and a few more that would be there if we hadn't had to removed them due to their being where they would destroy the foundation or a fence. And not counting the many others we've pulled out as seedlings. This is mostly a desert, and where there is water, amazing things grow like wildfire. I would love to have a huge piece of land, let it go mostly to trees and harvest our own firewood.

We have a lot more green this year than ever before. Finally we've caught up with the rocks, subsoil and herbicide and more things are willing to grow. Marco will mow it just enough to avoid a weed ordinance, and I think we'll all be happy. The kitchen sage plant is blossoming now - a huge plant that's been with us 3 years now and continues to spread. The tall purple wildflowers I unfortuntely don't know by name. And the lilacs (water-guzzlers I didn't plant) are also blooming purple.