We haven’t turned the air conditioning on in our house yet. Big deal, you say. It’s only May, you say. It’s barely May, at that. Ha! This weekend it was 96 degrees plus humidity. But I’m ok with that. Why? I mean, sure, it seems a little silly for it to be cooler outside than inside. To go outside to escape the summer heat. But the idea of saving $100’s this summer on a/c bills if we can just hold out until July is awfully appealing too, and I’ve found the sweet spot.
Welcome to our front porch…
See how bright and sunny it is out there in the driveway? See how shady it is in this little corner of my world? The front porch is shaded until about 2 pm. Then the jasmine kicks in as a lovely screen for this corner for the rest of the afternoon (even though the rest of the porch is too hot for bare feet).
I’ve got a rustic, paint-peeling, don’t-rock-too-hard-or-you’ll-fall-thru-the-back chair to rest in, complete with a cheap outdoor cushion covered in cat hair. Remember my bio? We like old stuff. This porch furniture was bought by Mr. Fix-It’s grandfather from a door-to-door salesman back before either of us were even born.
I’ve got two wide open windows to hear everything in the house at naptime (you would assume that was quiet time…if you didn’t have kids) and straight thru to the backyard if necessary. I’ve got an old chicken crate to rest my sweet tea on and almost 200 square feet of play space right in front of me for anyone on probation from the backyard. This is the sweet spot.
And what a view…
I’ve got pink azalea’s behind me, purple irises peeking out in front of me, a summer garden in the yard full of red bee balm, yellow tickseed, and a bloom-crazy butterfly bush, and my favorite…
Piles and piles of roses. When the breeze blows, you can smell the sweet scent of sun-warmed roses all the way from one end to the other. Another few weeks and it will be hundreds and hundreds of tiny, white Jasmine and thick, pale lavender buzzing with bees. The porch fans just swirl it round and round, across your skin and in your nose.
And the best part? You can’t really see it from the road. Or the yard. Or the driveway. If naptime actually is quiet time…if Mr. Fix-It is out fixing something (which he usually is!)…if the neighbors are on their own porches and not working in their yard or having band practice…if the water buckets are scrubbed, the chicken house is clean, the gardens are weeded, and dinner is thawing…That’s Mama’s version of just about perfect.
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
