Evening star., 1933-06-01
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS K HENRY.
wv YITH Van Fleet roses burying
"A garages and low-roofed
wv sleeping porches under
blush-tinted blossoms and
wire fences and garden
gates hidden under thick blankets of
Paul's Scarlet climbers In the feverish
flush of their red apotheosis, the
Washington back yard In all sections
Of the city is at the crest Of its Spring
beauty.
This is a face of the city that Is
likely to remain hidden from the Wis
itor. Washington keeps its street
fronts for the world. There is sug-
gestion of correct formality about them.
Especially in the new sections the
shrubbery has been planted and the
lawn laid out by the builder, in ac-
cordance with the ideas Of some land
scaper as to what was correct for the
small home.
So the houses, especially the new
row houses, stand like files Of soldiers,
shoes polished and every button in
place. The arbor vitae, the spireas,
tern in each yard, or only with such
variations as appeared fit to the plan
ner. It is pretty enough, in its way.
Back Yard Intimacy.
But Washington doesn't live on its
streets. 1t lives on its back alleys. In
the yard facing the alley this city
relaXes into the intimacy Of shirt
sleeves, overalls, neighborly gossip and
the freedom to do what 1t pleases
Once around the corner Of the house
and Washington is not on parade with
a top sergeant, in the form of Tradi-
ton, to inspect its shoes and its but
tons. 1t is free to dress as 1t pleases
1t can satiate its hunger for color and
for disarray.
The back yard constitutes the city's
escape from dignity and standardiza-
ton. The lazy man can let. the grass
grow. The utilitarian can plant rad
ishes and cucumbers. The dreamer
can experiment with roses and holly
hooks in whatsoever confusion appeals
| to him, the Journalist can pattern a
| flower garden out of book with sun
| dials and rose-covered arbors that
serve no purpose except conformity to
convention, the sentimentalist can
grow flowers of vanished childhood
! in a distant land. In Washington
! back yards, as well as in faces, one
| the confidence or the despair, the good
will or the malice, the introversion or
extroversion, of the owner. The city
| has successfully resisted efforts to
| standardize its back yards as its front
yards have been standardized. In
many cases 1t has put high fences,
hedges, even high brick walls, around
them that it might preserve this ref
uge of individuality in a conformist
| age.
Small Homes Reflect Personality.
| 1t is not in the rear Of the big
houses that one senses this indi-
viduality of the back yard. There the
architect has had his way and the
unimaginative gardener arranges and
plants according to blueprint. The
rich man has other roads of escape
from the Journalism of life. It Is be-
hind the row houses and the detached
| cheaper homes in all parts of the city,
where the weeks wash with Jonnie's
drawers and grandma's calico apron is
hung dripping over the Frau Karl
| Drushkas and the broken velocipede Is
deposited among the fading irises, that
one gets the back yard with a person
| ality. There roses are luminous with
the inner light of human intimacy.
The apotheoSis Of the Washington
back yard has been trif1e delayed
/ this year. Usually the earlier bloom
ers, like the Van Fleets, are beginning
to drop their petals by Memorial day.