On The Porch

It’s a cloudy 54° kn the porch this morning. It’s breezy too. The coffee is on and my day started at 5am. I’m off work today, so I’m not sure why so early! I’ve noticed it’s staying light a tiny bit longer in the evening and getting light a tiny bit earlier in the morning! And, I love these warm days! I’m definitely not a winter person! Give me fall all year long!  I took a hard fall partly because of the dark early Wednesday morning. That iron pot at the beginning of my driveway jumped right out onto the sidewalk and tripped me.  That sidewalk and pavement were cold and wet! And there wasn’t much give either. I have the bruises to show.  Nothing was broken except my pride. I’ve lived here since 1994. You’d think I’d know the way to my car.  😳    c’est la vie So. I ask y’all to remember Cody Harlan’s family in your prayers. He was a young man gone too soon. His mom and I have been acquainted for decades. We have cousins in common.  When I was young, I...

It’s a very breezy 61° on the porch this morning. The coffees hot and perfect. It doesn’t “feel” like Christmas at all. It’s so warm! Actually, I love the temps.   I’ve been thinking back to Christmas when I was a kid. It would be around this time mom would put up our tree. Our tree was always a freshly cut cedar. It was cut by mom until Greg and Bruce were old enough to cut the tree. It always went in her bedroom, right in front of the double window.  My dad loved the tree. I remember when he brought in the first twinkle lights. Back then, if one went out, the whole string went out.  I remember when he bought the stereo. And Christmas albums.  I remember the smell of the records, the smell of the Christmas tree, wondering how on earth could Santa get down our chimney with the wood stove. I remember asking why we didn’t let the fire go out so Santa would be safe. I remember hanging a sock behind the stove and finding an orange and banana along with hard candy and crè...

I haven’t posted anything since mid October. I didn’t realize it had been so long.   I worked this past Friday. I knew storms were predicted   I knew, going to bed, tornadoes could be involved. What I didn’t know was I would be rudely awakened at 1am by a shrill tone from my phone telling me to take cover now.  I took off my cpap.  I stood up and the lights went out. My phone wasn’t fully charged. I turned on its flashlight and made my way to my bathroom.  That room is on a southwest facing outside wall. Not really where you want to be if a tornado is approaching. I found my battery operated light and turned it on to conserve cell battery because we didn’t know how long we’d be without power.  I made my way to the dining room where Nick, Kristen and the baby were.  He didn’t understand why he was up that time of night. I went to the living room and opened the back door. There was an eerie ominous look outside. For the second time since 1994, I was afra...