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Today was a day of simple pursuits.  Reaching for the sun, hanging in my back yard, chatting with friends.  Back yards, outside spaces are so really helpful to me.  In every space I have ever lived in for the most part their is an outside space that becomes a favorite spot.  Sorta like a cat….hahahaha   yea I got some of the species in me too.  (Different Blog!) I sat in the sun and listened to the silence.  The bees flitting from flower to flower, someone down the street mowing their lawn.  The smells of freshly cut grass, and rubber from dem fools on da corner doin donuts.

As I was sitting in the yard I realized that I was surrounded by life.  Yes Life!  We have three types of trees and several rose bushes and other flora and fauna in our backyard oasis here.  There is a green apple tree (apple crisps) that is about to pop, and a lemon and cherry tree.

I don’t know that I knew cherries grew on trees….sorta thought they grew on bushes but that’s grist for a different blog.  It’s kinda hard to be sucky about life surrounded by such abundance.  That’s the happy thought for today.  Despite all that has been happening, my life continues to be filled with abundance and positive reinforcements to be happy, grateful and abundant.

Imma remain me…do me…..be me.

Watering, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

This is our latest project, nearly complete. We fenced in the back of our house, added another layer or four to the wall (depending on the section), put down stepping stones, filled in with montana rainbow rock, put in some pots with, on this side of the deck, perennials, and put bark dust down in the flower bed outside of the fence along the wall. We like it.

The Parents Backyard in San Jose, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

This is Karen’s parent’s backyard. Doesn’t it look inviting? It is. We spent much of our last visit sitting out there enjoying some great company and good conversation.

Fire, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Dinner at Maggie’s was followed by nice conversation outside on her back porch complete with a fire and some good wine.

One of the most challenging aspects of living in a large city with dogs is the lack of yard space. Limited yard space is a major down side to the dozens of positive amenities like all the great views, access to chic stores and restaurants every direction from your home, interesting people (oh the people you meet!), and public art everywhere. Many of us delight at simple pleasures, like dining outdoors at a favorite bistro with pups at our table. But yard limitations are real. Most of us simply do not have yards – back or front.

A few fortunates do have the whole urban dream (WUD): awesome brownstone in high amenity and service neighborhood, parking, actual front and/or back yards (we are talking about the 20 by 20 ft ones not the 6 by 8 ones), city views and quiet spaces, and easy access to all transportation (so you can pick the best one for your specific moment-to-moment needs). For those of us who cannot quite finance the WUD (and a few who can but choose not to) there are products and services, communities, and online resources that help. We feature discussions of those here.

And, our dogs hang out on stoops.

Here is our list of dos and dont’s for optimizing your stoop for dogs.

1. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your dog is incapable of removing the lid of your hibachi grill
2. Do keep the grill raised off the ground when not in use, ditto for flower pots and other breakables
3. Do train your dog not to leave the front stoop area until you give the say so
4. Do use whatever humane means are necessary to accomplish # 3
5. Don’t sweat the small stuff – accidents do happen, after all our pups don’t have yards
6. Do keep on hand a lot of nifty dog accident clean up gear and a tightly sealed trash can
7. Don’t neglect your dog’s exercise needs – use dog walkers, join a walking co-op, or visit a dog park
8. Do brace yourself for neighbor push back when they can hear, see and smell your pup from their stoop
9. Don’t kid yourself about # 8 – there will be comments, so do find solutions for dealing with the nuisances that can degrade your neighborly relations
10. Do invest in as much dog humor as possible to get through your stoopified lifestyle with pup!