Back Porch Cogitations

The Valley was hot today...  in the 90's but the humidity was low so it was rather comfortable out on the back porch.  However, the cats prefer outside in the warmth rather than inside in the air.  The day reminded me of some of those old movies that take place in the south and there is always a big ole hound dog or two laying around on the wooden porch or dirt ground.

I waited until after 6:00 pm to mow the lawn to keep out of the heat of the sun so that I could continue to wear shorts and a t-shirt rather than cover up with long sleeves.  There was no one else outside, but then again, there seldom is as our neighbors like to spend most of their time indoors.   And, for that matter so do I but for different reasons, I suppose.

I watched only a little news this morning as it was SOS and please don't confuse this with the SOS served in the Navy mess halls...  but, it appears that national news stations get fixated on one or two topics and then spend the rest of the day and week, running those topics into the ground with redundant coverage.

Chicken Noodle News (CNN) was the first to do this when they started 24/.7 news coverage.

We have had several Hollywood actors decide to get into politics and their reasons are unclear other than they want to use their celebrity status to acquire votes so that they can attempt to force their thoughts and beliefs on others whether they are right for the people or not seems not to be of any concern to them.

I suppose they have a "right" to do this but I doubt very seriously if they would be kind towards a politician who tried to make it in Hollywood...  but for many...  turnabouts is never fair play.    Still that does not seem to matte...  especially to those who woke up being WOKE.

I have no sympathy for woke  people, nor do I have any sympathy for those cities where crime and violence is on the increase because they have defunded the police departments so that money can be diverted to helping black people can have better SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS on their way from childhood to adulthood.

I also don't give a rat's ass about being told that I am an oppressor because I was born white and free, like the lions in Africa.  I am not who my father was nor his father nor his father nor his father or the one before that.  I am me from 1947 to the present...  no more no less...  and, my grandfather was a druggist but neither was my father or me...  so, there was no influence there...  

My father worked for the federal government all of his career while staying in the naval reserves and when he retired he received TWO PENSIONS...   I did not work for the government, nor did I work anywhere long enough to have received a pension.  How frigging different can I be than that?

I was born in NC which makes me a Southerner.  And, like I said, I was born white and free.  I was born with natural athletic abilities that were never developed and I was born with artistic abilities that were never developed either.    I am not as wealthy as my father was and I have no idea if I am more happy or not.

I enjoy who I am and what I have become.

Back Porch Adventures

About 2-3 years ago, my wife and I decided to close in our back deck and turn it into a screened in porch.  We were hesitant of the expense of it all and had postponed our decision for years...  actually, I was the one that wanted to do this, but would not move forward unless my wife agreed as well.

My original plans was to have a glassed-in back porch but that turned out to be cost prohibitive, so we settled for a screened-in back porch instead.  The roof for the back porch was slanted into the existing roof rather than building an "A" frame to match the existing roof since it saved us a "ton" of money.

Obviously, our screened-in back porch gets little use during the 2-3 months of cold weather that we have here in the Valley but from April through December, it is used by me quite extensively...  My wife goes out to our deck and sits under a gazebo most of the day when the weather is warm enough to do so.

My usage of the screened-in back porch is limited when the humidity is high or when rain comes in at an angle, otherwise I am out there often...  which in my opinion justifies the spending of the money.

From my perch, I can see the front and back yards of our neighbors directly behind us sitting on either side of the road that divides them.  Six houses are easily seen but are a good hundred yards away which is not the case of the two neighbors on either side of us.  There is a road and an open field on the front side but no neighbors will ever build in front of us.

None of our neighbors spend time outside unless it is to mow their yards or let their dogs back into the house...  even when the weather is warm or hot and humid, they remain inside their homes with the air on as I do...  

Our neighborhood is a great place to live and is especially enjoyable for retirees who have no desire to listen to a bunch of noise from people and children playing outside as if they were in a park.

I Must Be Crazy

I can see my reflection on the monitor screen as my laptop boots us...  an old face, deep set brown eyes with wrinkles at the corners,  a grey toboggan covering my head and forehead under the hood of a heavy duty, fleeced lined sweatshirt zippered half way up...  even though my laptop is 5 years old it still boots up rather quickly and instantly I am connected to the internet as if someone had played a magic trick on me...  wool socks with leather soles are on both feet and except for my hands, I feel rather warm and toasty to be sitting outside on my back porch deck in weather less than 40...  

A light rain makes concentric rings as it hits standing water and for a moment or two, I watch them disperse and disappear as other drops of rain takes their place in my time and space...  a cooling cup of coffee in a paper cup from McD's is on my left side with McCafe spelled out in brown letters...  our fat (due to steroids for congestion) yellow cat joins me on the deck wanting to continue its way outside but changes his mind when he sees all the rain...  and, the heat from all my clothes makes me sweat a little and for another moment I wonder how long it will be before I decide to go back inside and quit enjoying all this nice weather...

On the other side of my deck rails are the stumps of the bushes I cut down about 2-3 feet above the ground and while I cannot see them from my vantage point, I am just as confident that they are still there as I am that they will again grow tall in the spring of this new year...  a 4X4 treated post stands firm in the ground and supports a blue bird house I made out of the old decking I replaced this year and while there are no inhabitants, I have seen a couple checking it out as a possibility...

Neighbor's leaves have once again blown into my back yard and as soon as it stops raining and the grass dries out, I will again mow that area for the third time...  and, while it is a tad annoying to do this each year, it does help my grass grow strong...  and, as I stop to reflect upon it all, I notice the rain is still falling and the sounds that it makes when it hits an object seems to be getting stronger and stronger...  as if the rain is going to replace the early snow that feel a few days ago...  and, even though it did not last that long on the ground, it was still early and not being a farmer, I have no way of knowing if that is a good sign or not...

And...  while it may seem a little funny to you or even weird, I still do not feel the least bit cold...  not even my bare typing fingers...  the rain has decided to increase and there is no doubts about it...  falling like it does during a typical summer shower...   and, while this is good for the 3 new spots that we sowed grass seed, it is not good for the one task that I was going to perform outside today...  and, while its delay will not bother me...  it will bother the other resident who lives in this house with me...

My second cup of coffee tastes as good as the first and I am not sure what I am doing, if anything, differently to have all this good luck...  but, it would appear that the rain is starting to subside and I really must go and start what I need to do so I can finish before this cup of coffee gets cold...

On The Back Porch

Storm clouds gather in my field of vision and I wonder how long I have out here before it starts to rain...  and even though my porch is screen in and does a relatively good job at keeping out the bugs and insects, it unfortunately cannot keep out the rain.  I prefer to sit out here and write than inside like I did for most of the summer as the humidity made me sick to my stomach, leaving me often with a feeling that I could not breathe... a changing sensation in my body that has arisen as I have grown old.

The round thermometer inside the porch reads a warm 70 degrees but I just cannot believe it is that warm today, although I feel rather pleasant sitting here in a t-shirt and my pajama bottoms which is all I seem to be wearing these days since I don't leave the house much.  And, even if this COVID disease was not upon us like it was, I doubt that I would be leaving home anymore often than I am now as there is really no place that I want to go.

During the first few years of my retirement, my wife and I traveled all over the place, going somewhere for a week (sometimes longer) every other month...  sometimes, we would drive our car...  sometimes, we would use our frequent flyer miles from using our American Express Card and fly, and sometimes, we would drive to Florida and take a cruise.  BUT...  after just a few days of being in another location and despite the sights and sounds and restaurants, we had a keen desire to simply return home.

Why spend the money if you go somewhere and wish that you were HOME...

On the porch with me is our overweight yellow cat...  overweight, not because of eating too much per se but because of all the steroids he's had to take due to his allergies that were causing him to sneeze and cough from lung congestion...   inside the house, we have two more cats, one yellow as well and has the personality of a typical cat or what one might think a typical cat should be like, and one Siamese that is not your typical cat at all, but is a typical Siamese literally HOWLS when he wants something, is very jealous and possessive...  and, who does not like being picked up or put into a cage...  which is all very interesting especially because he has asthma and must get a steroid shot too about every 90 days or so.

He has a tendency to be cold and have a heating pad under a thin blanket on which he lays on days like today, when according to him, it is a little chilly, especially when there are clouds in the sky and no sunshine.

The YETI metal coffee cup I have holds 3 cups of coffee and keeps it warm for at least a couple of hours which as far as I am concerned is not bad.  I take this cup full of coffee and leave it in the car when I go to see the doctor or when I have my cancer treatments which usually lasts 3 hours maybe a little bit more...  and, when I return to the car, the coffee inside is still very much warm and I drink it on the return drive rather than stopping.

One last item before I return inside since my laptop battery is rapidly declining and that is the KODI box that I purchased for about fifty bucks.  It easily attaches itself to a WIFI connection, and offers free movies, TV shows, and NEWS outlets many of which you have on CABLE if you are willing to pay the monthly fees.  It is a way of saving money iffen you need to...   and as far as I am personally concerned, I hate paying a fee for television service that used to be FREE...  but, that's just me.