What do you see outside your window today?

My post for today was inspired by Jessica Stank in My Journey as an Aspiring Author... and other Ramblings.  Go visit her blog at:  http://jessiestank.blogspot.com/2012/06/writing-assignment-for-today.html

Her daily blog had a "Writing Assignment for Today" where she asked all her readers to write a descriptive paragraph in the comments of her blog.  Specifically, she wanted her readers to look at the window and describe what they saw.  This sounds like a fun writing assignment, and so I'd like to do the same writing exercise here on my blog, and invite my readers to comment below.  Feel free to spread this idea to your blog, and leave a link in the comments section below.  :)

On to my window...

Here it is a warm, humid day in early June in the central region of the United States.  Early today when running errands, I saw that it was a mild 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It's humid enough that if you stand outside for very long, you'll end up sticky.  And while this isn't weather I like to stand outside in, I'm not going to complain.  We have already had temperatures with highs over 100 degrees this year.  And last year we had a couple of weeks of extreme highs over 115 degrees.  So, 85, while warm to the touch, is a very mild summer day in Oklahoma.  In fact, we are on the lookout for rain - to help replenish some of the water in the soil that was baked so dry last summer.

I'm currently looking towards my living room window.  Yes, I'm stretched out in a recliner, with the laptop on my lap.  The joys of summer vacation and working at home.  :)  The house is calm and rather peaceful for the moment - pups asleep on the floor, birds mostly quiet, with the quiet whir of the air conditioner in the hall running.  I'm enjoying my peace for about 30 more minutes before it's time to jump up and start working on dinner.

From my chair, I can turn my head and look out the large picture windows at the front of the house.  The sky is blocked from view by a large metal awning that hangs over the windows all along the front of the house.  They are old - perhaps from before I was even born.  They work well to shade the windows from the southern sun and create a fun pitter-patter of music during the rains.  Under the awning, the rest of my view is taken up with large round green leaves.  I can see splashes of color and light between the leaves, and I will be able to see the moving shadows if a car drives down the street.  But, unless I get close to the window and look between the leaves, I do not have a clear view of the neighborhood.

Suppose I do walk up to the window and peer through the branches, or step out onto the porch.  My view then falls on a typical Tulsan middle class neighborhood.  Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma.  Ask any resident, and they will claim to be urban over rural or suburban every time.  However, compared to many of the big cities of the world, I'm sure the entire city of Tulsa seems more like a suburb than a city.  The reason?  Space.  When I look out in front of my house, I see a large green expanse of lawn - mine.  And then more yards of closely manicured grass, brightly colored flowerbeds, and well-established trees.  All of the houses on my street have one or more cars.  There are people in Tulsa who rely on the city bus to get around, but it is widespread and not as convenient to get around town as it is in a larger city.

Looking around my neighborhood, I see different styles of houses and decor.  This is an older neighborhood, built in the 1950's.  At that time, people bought up lots of land and built whatever they fancied.  This gives my neighborhood a bit of character.  There are smaller houses nestled in with medium houses (we don't have any truly big houses).  Lot size varies as well.  My house sits on a corner lot that is long and narrow.  The long end of my property runs along the front of the house, facing the street, which means I have a very big, long, front yard of grass.  However, if you go around the house to the backyard, you'll find a shallow narrow backyard the stretches the length of the house.  Most of the houses in my neighborhood have bigger, more square backyards, so mine is a little different.

When I look to my right, I see my traditional, 2-car driveway leading up to a 2-car garage.  But, past that, curving around the corner to the opposing street, I see a curved circular branch off the driveway.  This is a relic from past times.  I lived in this house during high school, and my parents put in this extra driveway to add more parking for my sister and I to park our cars during those teenage years.  Now this driveway is rarely used unless I have visitors coming over to my house.

When I look to my left, I see a semi-wild forested area edging the freshly cut grass lawn.  Along the front of my house and in a large bed on the left end of my property are shrubs, small trees, and monkey grass (and some rogue wild blackberry vines that I try to kill each year!).  There are pink-and-white striped crepe myrtles currently in bloom, some wild sapling trees that I cut back each year, small ornamental blooming trees like redbud and Bradford pears, and an arbor over the gate to the backyard that has beautiful purple whisteria and grapevines that have been trained up and over the archway.

All and all, it's a pretty nice place to call home.  :)

So, what do you see when you look out your window today?

Missy Bree
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