Lawn From Afar – Photo: L. Weikel

Beauty Up Close

The first task on our agenda today was to mow the lawn. So many days this week were hot and muggy, when you added to that mix a day or two where more rain than usually falls in an entire month fell within a couple hours, you had the perfect recipe for some major growth.

I sat on our porch looking out upon the lawn in front of the barn. (We’re lucky enough to have both a ‘front’ lawn and what we euphemistically call ‘the back 40’ – a patch of grass and weeds, trees, bushes, and an overgrown something-or-other Karl used to call a garden – behind the barn.) The lawn looked different this week. A new patch of something was growing out there and I’m not sure why it apparently proliferated over the past two weeks, but it definitely had overtaken the green grass.

Lots of White, Much Less Green

Walking down to the barn to fetch the mower, I noticed that the sea of white heads in the grass were patches of what I believe is clover. I had to laugh; we are definitely into ‘au naturel’ lawns. Ours would never be acceptable to those who demand a thick, monotonous carpet of green.

Ours is anything but that. In fact, we often have a variety of plants, often referred to as weeds, having starring roles in our lawn productions. Dandelions, wild violets, crab grass, and these teeny, tiny little wild strawberries. And now, apparently, a major crop of clover.

As I was mowing, I started paying attention to what I was mowing through and cutting down to a trim and uniform size. I couldn’t help noticing that, the closer I looked and the more detail I allowed myself to notice, the more honest beauty revealed itself to me.

For instance, the top photo in this post is a shot of my lawn, as I was mowing it, ‘from afar.’

Lawn a Little Closer – Photo: L. Weikel

The second photo, just above, is simply paying closer attention and zooming in a bit more.

But the most beautiful photo is the one below. How easily (and routinely) do we ignore the rich, vibrant colors and many exquisite details in the tiny flowers that I had categorically dismissed as ‘stuff to mow’ only minutes earlier.

The miniature-like quality and detail to these ‘lawn weeds’ is profound. I’m so glad they asked to have their photos taken!

Next Chance You Get, Take a Deeper Look

Next time you have a chance to walk on your lawn, or beside the road, or sit beside a creek or just ‘be’ anywhere, I encourage you to stop and just take a deeper look. Really focus on the details of what’s sharing space right there with you. I guarantee you will be filled with wonder.

And right now, it feels especially important for all of us to seek out and appreciate the tiniest offerings of color, beauty, and goodness we can find.

Beauty Up Close – Photo: L. Weikel

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