Growing a lawn has turned out to be rewarding in many unexpected ways. I would venture to call it therapeutic. Since we are at home more than usual, having a beautiful and inviting outdoor space is a welcome outlet. I can walk barefoot on the earth. Inside or outside, my gaze and my soul is filled with vibrant green.

And of course we share our lawn love with the fur babies, who up to now have been indoor cats. We upgraded them to indoor cats with a benefits package. We’ve slowly built trust and healthy boundaries so that they have the freedom to enjoy the yard. And we enjoy them enjoying it! Let’s face it, no one stalks, preys and pounces like a cat in the tall grass.

And then there’s the nature: dragonflies zooming by; solitary wasps hunt caterpillars and spiders; little white moths flit above the grass.

My favorite visitor right now is the constant stream of honey bees. They drink from my water dish by the dozens! All day. Every day. It is gratifying to help them hydrate in a year that’s been over one hundred degrees daily for several months now. Our irrigation has to fill the shallow dish twice a day to keep it full! Either that’s a lot of bee water or we’re fighting evaporation.