The Virtues of the Covered Porch

The incessant buzz of the cicadas in the midday heat, like oil frying in the pan, reminds us to jump out of the ‘fire’ to the cover of the porch. (Did you know that they buzz at 85 decibels? That is as intense as the sound of traffic in midtown Manhattan!)

It is one thing to escape entirely into the comfort of an air-conditioned home, but it is another to do as people have done for centuries: enjoy (tolerate?) the heat in the shade. We have a lovely back porch which provides shade at all times of the day. This I enjoy in a great many ways:

The sound of the bamboo wind chimes as the warm wind blows

Chalk alphabet by Zachary, some letters still backwards, but not skipping one

Creating landscapes full of thatched roof homes, bright flowers, and snakes

Cocktails with Mark

Dinner in the warmth of the evening

Reading while, legs only, are tanning in the sun

Listening to the amazing range of birdsongs, watching them flit through the trees

Playing in the new sand box

Zachary ‘being’ the “bread guy” delivering to all who will play along

A cardboard house weathered to distortion but nonetheless entertaining

Watching folks walk slowly past, muscles drained by the heat, skin shining

The rain pounding all around but not on us

Laughing, tickling

Mark the DJ keeping us in melody

Dancing along

I love our covered porch

I will miss it terribly but I will have (perhaps even build) another someday.

CSN