We’re sitting on the porch, our feet up and resting on the ledge. The canvas chairs permit us to sway a little. An iPod is crooning some mild jazz, but really, the noise of the crickets is far louder. It’s nearing five and the shadows have crawled over much of the flower patch and driveway. I say to Ed – it feels like early fall. He answers – it feels like summer. He and I look out differently. I notice the movement of sunlight. He notices the warmth in the air. I am looking for an interesting photo. He is thinking of his bike ride in an hour or so.
It completely makes sense to me that people who have been around some should love a porch so much. Say you’re a parent: you’ve pushed your kids plenty. You’re not worrying about feeding them oatmeal anymore. You have more free time. Work is done for the day, now what? Read some spirited debate on the Internet? Forget it! Controversy is for the babes out there. You’ve heard the debates, the arguments, the nonsense. You know that no one is ever fully right. So, feet up, eyes out toward the sky. Crickets and a receding streak of sunlight are so much more interesting. We listen and watch and occasionally comment on what we see before us and really, we could go on like this for hours.
Ah, the joys of a porch... just what we did last night. Although I must admit that after a half hour or so of reading my head ended up level with my feet.
ReplyDeleteNancy: yes, well, you have a point there. Sort of like reading in bed. I mean, do people get anywhere at all when they take a book to bed with them? There was a time where I would read through the night, unable to put the book down... There was a time like that. Really.
ReplyDeleteI will lie down in bed to read. I'll notice that I am absolutely wide awake. I'll be able to read pages and pages. And then the book flops down on my chest.
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