pieces and ponderings

I stepped outside this afternoon and decided to walk around our house…looking at fruit trees and seeing if weeds were springing up in our flower bed after yesterday’s rain.  The sun was shining brightly, which it has done a lot this hot summer, beating down on plant or pavement, conveying a single message of blazing heat.  But late this afternoon, I was surprised to find a slightly cool breeze was blowing softly across our property.  It felt really nice outdoors…nice enough to sit on our front porch and read a book, which is what I found my oldest doing.

I love our front porch.  I love front porches period.  But,  I’m especially fond of ours.  I have spent a lot of time there…at all hours of the day.  I’ve watched sunrises and sunsets and thunderstorms in the afternoon and lightening displays at night and fireworks shooting up from our front yard.  I have sat on that porch with my husband and with our children, sometimes in bunches and sometimes with just one of our offspring.  I have sat with my mom on that porch and with dear friends.  It’s a great place to enjoy a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of iced tea or lemonade.  It’s a great place to watch a family football game or batting practice or a heated volleyball or badminton match.

It’s a great place to wait for my kids to arrive home from school or college or to watch for my husband to get home from work.   It’s a great place to listen…to a family member’s memories…or the happenings of the day…or laughter…or just the sounds of the nature around it.

On summer mornings you can hear a buzzing sound made by the hundreds of bees that are busy flying in and out of the white blossoms of the Crepe Myrtle that stands not too far away.  There are birds that chirp and sing and the occasional bark of our dog, Ellie.  It’s a good place to just be quiet and still.  It’s just a good place to be.