Finding Calm on the Porch

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life that you don’t need to escape from.” --Seth Godin.

I recently saw this quote and loved it.  What a difference it would make if everyone could create a daily retreat, time away from the stress and the frantic pace so many endure day after day.  Now that summer has arrived I am enjoying more and more time on the screen porch.  It’s here on the porch that I find myself letting go of the ever present worries and anxieties that weigh me down.  Surrounded by trees, flowers, fresh air and lots of wildlife, I’m able to let go.   So for this entry, I thought maybe I’d share some free floating thoughts and word pictures of life as seen from the porch just off my kitchen.  Hoping you can kick back, close your eyes and lose yourself for just a few minutes too.  I’ve snapped a few views from the porch as well . . . enjoy!

Hummingbirds flitting quickly and quietly to sip the ruby nectar in the feeder, they seem almost magical in their approach and quick retreat.  Tiny wings, moving in a blur of neon green and purple.  Can’t help stopping to gaze at them with each one’s visit to dip tiny beaks into the sweetness, which fills them till they next return.

Hydrangea’s, bursting with puffs of color.  Pink, fuchsia, purple, and white, brightening the garden path they line.

Squirrels chasing and frolicking on the fence.  Leaping from branches and performing acrobatics that make me want to applaud.  One minute racing around and around the pine tree trunk, heads and tails bobbing. They are always chattering as they spend themselves in play.  Then, sleeping flattened on the fence top, funny little faces resting, while tiny arms and legs hang sleepily motionless.

White impatiens gleam brightly day and evening and even in the moonlit garden.  Like tiny white stars scattered among the rocks around the pond.  I love to see them glowing under the stars. A night garden is so lovely.

Besides the hummingbirds, robins, doves, cardinals, sparrows, black-capped chick-a-dees, catbirds, cow birds and yellow finches provide entertainment. They love the fountain and wait in line to send the water flying as they dive and dip and bath in the cooling shower.  Then they preen, sitting in the branches above the garden and as the sunsets they sing and perform duets and trios until dusk descends and all becomes very still.

The water from the fountain makes a tiny tinkling sound, gentle, soothing.

Latter in the summer the cicadas will complete the evening choruses with their humming song, high in the trees, calling to mind my childhood in Tennessee and memories of falling asleep with windows open on cool summer nights.

Finally, the fireflies begin to twinkle in the twilight and like the others work their magic.  The day’s cares, the hustle and bustle of life fades and calm comes and soothes.

If you think this was a little dramatic, maybe even boring, a little over done and too poetic, I apologize.  I love the respite I receive on the porch, made even better when shared with Bob.  I hope that you have a gentle place full of wonderful soul soothers where you can find refreshment each day. . . and to think, summer has only just begun.