I’ve been thinking more and more about the lack of nature in typical outdoor spaces. My in-laws live in a really nice 55+ development where their property is maintained by the management company. It works for them, and they live in a great house where the family frequently meets up for events and holidays.

However.

I cannot get over how completely devoid this development is of any plant life. Some residents’ front yards include tiny garden plots with polite little shrubs or flowers, but that’s it.

The last time we visited was a beautiful day with sunshine, a nice breeze, and just enough warmth to be comfortable but not hot. I was outside with my five-year-old for an hour or two, playing catch, chasing him around the patch of grass, and indulging in whatever nonsensical games he came up with.

And then he just seemed to get bored. There was nothing around him to occupy his attention or inspire a creative game.

Now, I fully understand and agree that boredom in kids can be a great way for them to learn how to be creative. But at this point in our day, I felt like he would have been better served by some woodlands where we could just wander until the next game idea popped into his head.

I had offered several times to just go for a walk, but he was not that interested. And part of me understands why. The walking paths through this development are similarly sanitized of any wildlife.

Then it was mowed down to… create a better view of the scant trees?

Why can’t this spot have just been left to grow? There had been enough grassy space between the wild patch and the path that the “risk” of wild animals jumping onto the path would have been non-existent.

I was annoyed by these observations on that day, and it’s reinforcing my ideas for covering the slope in our own front yard with shrubs and flowers and letting it grow as it pleases, unmanicured.

Steve D