Journal Pals - Entry #6 - (View From My Window)

Journal Pals Entry #6 – View From My Window

My kitchen has a bank of windows all along the back of the house. They let a lot of sunlight into my tiny little kitchen. The windows look out across our backyard, which is a quarter-acre lot filled with black walnut and oak trees. Right now, almost all of the leaves have fallen from these trees and they nearly cover the ground. Our backyard is a haven for squirrels. Many afternoons, I like to stand in the kitchen and watch the squirrels chasing one another between the trees. They play in the leaves and search for walnuts underneath. I love to watch them peel the hulls from the walnuts – they’re so quick at it with their little paws and sharp teeth. I know a lot of people look at squirrels as pests, but they never fail to make me laugh with their antics. We also have families of cardinals and several woodpeckers that live in our trees. We had a really bad windstorm in September, in which a lot of people in our town lost trees in their yards. We were terrified that our trees would fall since they’re so tall (about 70 feet or more) and so close to the house. But we don’t want to cut them down, either. They offer good shade for the backyard and they’re shelter for so many animals! I imagine one day we’ll have to cut them down anyway.

From my kitchen window I can also see reminders of times when my kids were younger. We still have a metal swing set in our backyard with a turquoise toddler swing on it. I can still remember so many times when my oldest son and daughter played on the swing set with their friends. We bought the toddler swing for when my youngest son was born. The older kids (who are now 19 and 16) used to love to push their younger brother (who is 9) in his swing. I can also see the trampoline we bought in 2002 for the kids to play on. They absolutely loved it and there were so many summer days when we’d have a yard full of kids waiting to get on the trampoline with the kids. We had a stepstool right beside the trampoline to help the kids get up on it, and they would often use the bottom step to put a boom box on so they could listen to music while they jumped. The older kids’ favorite thing to do was “launch” their little brother once he got old enough to get on it with them. They’d jump while he stood still and it would launch him into the air. He would laugh so hard he’d be out of breath. I miss those days. Now the two oldest kids are busy with jobs and school, and they don’t have time to play like that. And my youngest seems to have lost interest in those things now that his brother and sister aren’t here to do them with him. It’s sad to see these things, especially with all of summer’s leaves lying all around them. It’s a reminder to me of how things are always changing and how time never stands still for very long.