The expression NIMBY has been around for quite a while. Not In My Back Yard! I seem to remember that it came into vogue as the environmental movement was getting underway.

NIMBY frequently refers to a so-called necessary evil that people don\’t want to have close to their homes: landfills, chemical plants, and so on. This time of year I think of it in reference to hurricanes.

About ten days ago Tropical Storm Isaias was barging towards the coast of the Carolinas, and expected to attain hurricane strength by landfall. NIMBY is these cases always leaves me with a tinge of guilt. I can\’t help being relieved that the storm isn\’t heading my way; but if it doesn\’t come here, it has to go elsewhere. SOMEone will take the brunt of it; as if COVID-19 weren\’t enough.

Enough of NIMBY. How about some things that we want in our backyards? If I had my own home with a yard, what would I put in that yard?

Perhaps a sort of gazebo, where I could keep a trainer permanently set up? Maybe I\’d stay halfway dry during \”rides\” on rainy days without the aggravation of a flapping poncho; that would depend on the wind. But I think that a lightning rod on top of my gazebo might be a wise precaution.

OK, what else would I put in my yard? I think I might like to have a vegetable garden; and, I hope, eventually raise enough produce to try a little home canning. A few flowers, maybe; but if I\’m going to put in the work on a garden, I\’d rather grow something to eat!

Just don\’t let that garden get so big that I don\’t have time left to ride!