For
a brief time in the 90’s, I owned my “dream home.” It was this spacious, two-story, four
bedroom, two and a half bath beauty. It had two living areas, but I turned one
into a “formal” dining room. This
gorgeous expanse of HOUSE met you as you walked in through the front door.
The
backyard was tiny compared to the half-acre we owned before so we built a deck
that encompassed the whole back of the house.
I made it more welcoming by adding container plants, and we spent morning
and evenings outside.
Landscaped
by the builder, the front yard had the usual sapling and the all-purpose shrubs
most new subdivisions provide. I wanted to distinguish it from all the other
front yards on our street, so I went out and bought fifteen envelopes of
zinnias. I planted them all in that front flowerbed. By June, the shrubs were
hidden among the zinnias. They had taken
over and created a beautiful display of color.
The
flower bed was situated underneath this majestic, cathedral window, and whenever
I was home I opened the shades to let in the view. I was surprised one Saturday
morning to find people looking in my house while I was looking out. Parents positioned
their babies in among my flowerbed and took picture after picture. Photographers took close ups of my flowers.
There were people on my grass and in my flowerbed at all hours of the day and
late into the evening, so I made a polite sign for the trespassers and posted
it in front of my flowerbed.
YOU ARE
WELCOME TO ENJOY THE FLOWERS, BUT PLEASE DO NOT TRAMPLE MY GRASS OR THE
FLOWERBED.
I
sold that house after four years. The new owners were a couple who stopped one
day to enjoy the flowers and fell in love with the house. I have driven by twice, and the sapling is a
tree now and the shrubs have been replaced, but the memory remains. I think
of my zinnia experiment every spring when I plant flowers in my yard.
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