Backyard Soup?

The park-like setting of my childhood backyard provided an ideal canvas for creative play. Pebbled paths, stone retaining walls, tall trees, lush foliage, and a treehouse (designed and built by my dad and grandpas) fostered endless imagination.

My sisters and I spent hours collecting rocks, twigs, leaves, flower petals, inedible berries, dirt and insects in tin pails, then added a splash of hose water to finish off our delectable backyard soup. (We didn't realize at the time, but Mom's ulterior motive for providing us these buckets meant she dodged the messier business of mud-pies.)

When I considered a return to blogging, I wrestled with theme. I love food and cooking, should I post favorite recipes? I homeschool my autistic, dyslexic son part-time, should I share my experiences? I adore reading and writing fiction, should I create a platform for those interests? I'm passionate about loving people like Jesus does, should I write to bless others?

I started and abandoned more than one single-themed blog before revelation hit; I don't want to blog in a box.

The long-ago image of backyard soup filled my mind. When we collected and mixed our concoctions, we chose the widest variety of "ingredients" possible. That's why we called it Backyard Soup rather than Leaf Soup or Pebble Stew; we utilized the contents of our entire outdoor space.

I want to draw from all aspects of my interests and life experience. So if you visit this blog often, you will encounter an eclectic mix of anything and everything important to me, from insignificant and humorous to thoughtful and encouraging. I hope that somewhere in the jumble of ideas you'll discover something that makes you glad you stopped by.