If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent the last week oscillating between wanting to spend every waking second in the garden and wanting to retreat back to the couch with a warm bowl of soup. There is a specific kind of magic in this "dull" but wonderful life—the kind where your greatest victory is a strangely shaped carrot or a perfectly blooming daffodil.
To be a child in the presence of Aunty Outdoor is to experience a specific, earthy magic. She is the keeper of secret rituals. She teaches you how to find a four-leaf clover by scanning the patch in a grid pattern. She shows you that the sticky sap from a snapped milkweed stem can glue a torn butterfly wing. She is the only adult who does not flinch at mud; instead, she presents it as raw material for pies and castles. Under her watch, the hose is not a chore but a dragon; the pile of raked leaves is not rubbish but a soft, fragrant explosion. She grants children the permission that parents often withhold: the permission to get dirty, to be loud, and to eat a sandwich while sitting on the damp grass. aunty outdoor
The benefits of an outdoor lifestyle for women in this stage of life are backed by science: If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent the
A simple vase of daffodils (my mam’s favorite!) can change the entire energy of a room. She is the keeper of secret rituals
Her dominion is the backyard, but her expertise extends to the porch, the barbecue pit, and the far, forgotten corner where the compost bin steams. On a holiday afternoon, while the family gathers in the air-conditioned living room to debate politics or nap, Aunty Outdoor is performing the quiet liturgy of maintenance. She is deadheading the roses, whispering to the tomatoes, or hosing down the patio furniture with a stream of water that catches the light like a diamond sceptre. She is the one who knows, instinctively, when a sudden rain is coming—not from a weather app, but from the way the wind flips the maple leaves to show their silver undersides.
If you're looking to embrace the "aunty outdoor" lifestyle, you don't need to be an elite athlete. Here is how to start: