Back Yard as a Terrarium

Last Wednesday, the high temperature in Midland was 104°, which was not only a record for April 25th, but the highest temperature ever recorded in the city in April. Couple that kind of heat with our outdoor watering restrictions, and our back yard is toast – literally. (OK, not literally literally, but blogger hyperbole literally, so work with me here.)

We have an ongoing discussion about the kind of makeover that will bring some semblance of livability to that space, but thus far we’ve reached no consensus. (Translation: I’m waiting on Debbie to tell me what to do.) In the meantime, we’ve decided to fill the yard with large, rusty, redneck sculpture, like so:

Every back yard should have a metal horny toad covered in deadly spikes. I won’t be surprised if some covert federal agency shows up on our doorstep demanding to see our registration for this device as a WMD. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine a work of art that’s more dangerous in one’s backyard. Well, unless you’re a collector of Shi Jin Song‘s sculptures:

Makes our horny toad look like a cuddly Beanie Baby, huh?