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July 14, 2006
T' Life o' Sally
I am sitting on my back porch.
It's gorgeous out here. The temperature is perfect, the sun is still blocked by house and porch roof, so unlike the situation in six hours or thereabouts, when the sun shines directly onto the porch (which faces west), the temperature is, well, temperate.
Some of my climbing roses are blooming. So is the lavender. The scents are gorgeous. Plus, there's a yard full of daisies, with a couple of cornflowers and some pretty yellow things, where once there was only gravel. (Though the daisies smell kind of like dog, so we won't put them on the list of gorgeous scents.)
I can hear birds singing, some traffic, the occasional piece of farm equipment, and Polyphemos, who is wailing at me through the windows that look onto the porch. He is Not. Happy. about me being out here and him being in there, and he is announcing it to me. Loudly and with great sustain through each of the three available windows in turn.
And I'm not even having the decency to ignore him. I'm talking to him, which I suspect only makes it worse, but how can I not respond to such piteous entreaties? Poor baby. He's dying, dying, because there's a screened window between us.
This is nice.
This is what summer is supposed to be like.
I can look to my left and see rust and orange pansies mixed with the deep purple of lavender, that same purple echoed in the HUGE clematis flowers next to my head. I can look over my right shoulder and see the green tomatoes burgeoning on my various plants, along with my blossoming bell pepper, crazy nasturtiums and gargantu-leafed basil. I can see sunflowers in various hues and sun tea brewing in pickle jars.
I can hear cicadas, and the occasional bee humming past.
And--Ooh! Is that mock orange drifiting past my nose? Some lovely scent, anyway.
This is nice.
This is peace.
Except, you know, for the squalling cat.
Okay. I have to get some actual work done here. Well, not actual work, since I'm taking the summer off. (I teach again in the fall, yay!) But I still have two weeks' worth of Arboretum pics to edit and post.
Though maybe I'll lean back and take a little nap first.
Who's to know?
Posted by sally at July 14, 2006 09:20 AM
Comments
Well, it's about TIME I left you a comment!
1. I really like your blog.
2. Idaho is
(a) a place I've never been
(b) absolutely gorgeous year 'round, from what I've seen/heard.
3. When I sit in my (hopefully) soon-to-be-gone "Oasis of Calm" - see my blog - the peace & quiet is inevitably broken by the roar of one or two of our giant air conditioning units. Ahh, suburbia.
4. I may have some flowers to gaze at if the landscapers ever get around to planting them. I'd plant them myself but I'm no Earth Mother. I swear I kill plants just by looking at them. I have a black thumb.
My neighbor who gardens (wearing a head to toe Smith & Hawken getup) says the neighborhood bunnies eat all the flowers. I've seen the local wandering deer eat all our groundcover. So I guess we're going to have to spray the flowerbeds with animal pee to keep them away. Hey, then I'll really want to sit in the sun admiring nature!
5. I'll trade you noisy air conditioners, bunnies, deer & pee (which I have to pay for) for your squalling cat.
Posted by: scat at July 14, 2006 04:59 PM
Scat! Hello! Welcome! It's lovely to have you. Please, sit, make yourself comfortable. Sun tea? (I make it with mint leaves along with the black tea.)
You'll note that I'm only showing off the back yard because the front yard is an embarrassment. Sigh. SOMEday I will have the entire thing put together.
And then we will sell the house.
Posted by: Sallyacious at July 14, 2006 05:13 PM
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