Mending Fences

This past weekend we spent long hours going around the 8000 square feet of our backyard securing and restoring fencing we had put up almost 20 years ago. We did this because our new pet member of the family, Yara is a young energetic Black Lab-Bouvier and we wanted her to have the run of the property. To me, the whole process was as much one of rediscovering the back yard as it was a rather lengthy project. Our garden is wild, a jungle of seemingly endless bushes, flowers, trees. and our fence is the same way, part wooden, part chain link, part wire supported by large bamboo, it is just a fun medley of resources and materials, all edged by large evergreen trees, most of which we planted as small Christmas trees years ago. Now they tower over us like gentle giants, giving endless pleasure to the squirrels and birds, and us, with their beauty and shade. We ended up going over every inch of the backyard fence, top to bottom and it was wonderful to spend that time outside as a family, stepping around the large sword ferns that stand solemnly guard all over the edges of the property, adding a touch of extra camouflage and poetry to the rather banal necessity of a fence. Yara was running around like a shiny miniature horse, just galloping in excitement, chasing birds, sniffing every spot in her new territory, just happy as can be. I went with her, to every corner, appreciating the bees in the wild huckleberry bushes, the fragrance of the lilacs against the chain link section of the fence, the hazelnut bushes by the older wooden fence near the front of the house, the bamboo clear on the other side of the yard, with an ecstatic Yara frolicking alongside, as she gathered  lilac blossoms and buttercup petals in her thick, curly shiny black coat. We got a whole new perspective on the size of our garden, on the deck and patio smothered in 16 different types of pansies, on the pool, the shed, the house, and it all added up to a renewed appreciation of our home, our living space, ourselves within that space. We were mending fences, my husband, my son, and Yara and myself, and we learned we are blissfully happy with our small house in this big bucolic backyard, that has also two cats, who slept through all the work of hammering , restoring, adding extra feet and height and length of fence and afterwards did seem glad we too sat down, content with two long, successful days of work. Sometimes the best treasures to find are the ones we already had, just forgot to notice them over time. What started as a project to ensure the joy and safety of our new dog Yara turned into a renewed sense of awareness of how blessed we are to have a peaceful house and garden we and our pets call home.