[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Jazuela

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We have a "mama maple" in my back yard, that shadows the ground so heavily that we can't grow a lawn back there. So we don't try. We leave it "park-like" and let nature do what nature does best - which is provide natural beauty to our property. There's moss, and johnny jumpups, and clover, and shrubs and bushes and a bunch of different types of grasses, some gorgeous low-growing purple flowers, bee-balm, and some of the moss is so smooth and velvety it's a perfect putting green for my husband. If we had an oak tree in my back yard I'd be deliriously happy. They're absolutely stunning, and I recall fondly climbing one when we visited a plantation in Louisiana one year when I was in my mid-40's. I'd gladly climb another, and enjoy the view of the horizon on my wooden perch.

It saddens me that anyone would think these things are "dirty," as if that were a bad thing. Things that grow in dirt are dirty. It's sort of how it works. I'm sorry to see some people here aren't capable of appreciating *natural* nature, and require "planned artificial nature" to be happy with their lot in life.

Leaves on roofs. Leaves in gutters. Leaves in yards. Leaves are dirty when they fall off trees. Many people call that a pain in the fanny as we grow older. What some think is beautiful others do not.