I'm not sure if it's genetic coding or learned behavior, but I have found that I'm following a habit of my Dad's. When I was a kid, I didn't really participate in his regular practice but now I find myself doing so.
There's a time in the evening in the longer daylight days, not quite sundown but getting near, after dinner, when we usually have a relative stillness in our house. The kids are usually eating a snack and watching some television show or reading or playing on X-Box intently, part of the wind-down before bedtime. My wife is doing things to prep for going to work for the next day. I, on the other hand, usually take the opportunity to slip outside and enjoy our backyard for a few minutes.
Actually, it's not all of our backyard. Because of our position on our street and the next cross-street, there are three backyards that run together, almost as one, that over the years have somewhat grown separately yet similar in appearance, almost as if a park landscaper had intended for the entire area to look the way it does. The yards are bordered by fences on one side, and homes on the other, but are wide enough and long enough to keep both out of main focus when looking at the yards. There's always an abundance of natural activity going on in the back, from insects (lightning bugs, cicadas, crickets, butterflies, damselflies, you name it, if it's local you might see it) to vertebrates. At dusk is a good time to see the bats come out and swoop between the trees, catching the bugs that are starting to lift from the grass as dark approaches.
Rarely, other than my family, do you see people at this time in the backyards.
My Dad, in Livermore and in Bakersfield, used to like to go in the backyard for 10-15 minutes and just enjoy whatever he was enjoying, quietly. I tend to think I have a far wealthier view to enjoy, but I've found myself doing the same thing. It's more than just relaxing, there's almost a soothing music of sound and visual, and often of smell, that combines to provide a useful "reset" for me. It's not something that is as describable as it is experienced, but I think you have to be open to it for it to happen, because for many years I was not.
The front yard actually doesn't cut it for me as a view unless it's a thunderstorm. Then, I can sit in the garage, and get a pretty good view of the storm rolling in and the lightning cracking around and the reaction of people as they hurry to get out of the weather. It's still not the same, but it's enjoyable.
For me, the backyard is somewhat of a place where I can rejuice my batteries. How about you?
