“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.”
I think I know what heaven may be like. It’s a deck high up in the trees. Birds fly in and out of feeders filled with sunflower seeds and hanging from branches. The round glass table is in the shade. A red fountain constantly flows and sounds like a brook with water cascading over rocks. Birds stand under the flowing water as if it were a shower then shake their feathers dry. Other birds stop and take a drink. The humidity is a memory and there is a cooling breeze. Pinwheels stuck in flower pots spin and spin in the breeze, and their colors run together in whirls of red and blue. The only sounds are birds, chattering red spawns and a few planes flying overhead almost close enough to brush the tree tops as they make their way to Logan. Welcome to my deck.
The neighbors across the street seldom venture out of their house. They used to weed the front, but when they replaced the ground cover with mulch, they don’t have to weed at all so I don’t see them much anymore. They were city people so locks and closed windows keep them safe. I never see the front door opened to the screen. If I have to go over, I hear my neighbor ask who it is then I hear her unlock several door locks. Her husband has Alzheimer’s but always waves and says hello to me. Once he thought he was locked out of the house and came here for help so I think he still remembers me.
My street is on its second generation of kids. The first generation has kids of its own. Four houses still have original owners, mine included. We have all improved our houses with backyard decks, patios and, in one case, a swimming pool. We sit in those backyards and take joy from the quiet. I read or listen to music. I leave my phone inside. I sometimes hear it ring but I don’t care to answer caught up as I am with the deck, the day and the beauty around me.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: backyards, birdbath, birds, breeze, deck in the trees, feathers, fountain, heaven, isolation, neighbors weeding, original owners, pinwheels, planes landing, shade, spinning wheels, whirling colors
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
August 6, 2015 at 2:17 pm
John Muir Quote
August 6, 2015 at 5:51 pm
Beautiful warm summer day here today and I finally mowed the lawn. The grass was quite high but I waited until the robins had left their nest next to the mower in the shed. They flew in and out through a small window gap, real acrobats. It was the second robins breed at this place this year and a good excuse not to mow the lawn. The blackberries are ripe now and delicious. We see our neighbors quite often in the garden when it’s sunny, the advantage of not having AC. AC is neither common nor really necessary in this country. Enjoy your deck!
August 6, 2015 at 6:04 pm
Birgit,
Humidity is part of living here. Sometimes it is so stifling the AC is a necessity. I have had one in my bedroom for a long time, long before I added the central air. Without it, I would never have fallen asleep on a hot, heavy summer night.
I love blackberries.
Most of my neighbors stay in their backyards where the decks and patios are. Gracie alerts me when anyone is walking by the house, especially if they have a dog.
I think any excuse not to mow is valid, robins or not.
August 6, 2015 at 11:18 pm
I don’t have any idea about heaven but hell might be like the temperatures we’ve had it hit 103 degrees for the second day in a row. The electric grid has been strained all afternoon as people cranked their air condioners up to keep them cool. By Sunday they are forecasting high temperature of 105. When you add the humidity the temperature index could hit 109. Of course I don’t believe in heaven or hell. In the end it’s just six feet of dirt and 39 cents worth of plastic flowers. 🙂
I’m one of those people who enjoy the great outdoors viewed through the windows from my cool sofa. 🙂
August 7, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Bob,
I agree about hell having lived through similar weather but without AC. I didn’t have humidity so you are in worse weather. The AC is your only relief.
I want there to be a huge party when I go, no sorrow just food and drink. I haven’t yet decided if I want to be cremated, but if I am, I want to be there!
39 cent plastic flowers don’t exist any more. They’ll have to shell out a bit more when you go or raid a neighbor’s garden.
You would love the breeze on the deck. It is almost sinful to sit inside when the day is as beautiful as it was yesterday and seems to be today.
August 7, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Hi Kat,
It was a lovely day here yesterday as well. Sunny, temperate, dry with a cooling breeze. Perfect.
My neighborhood was 40 years old when I was born into it. Possibly it is on it’s 5th or 6th wave of kids. There have been three in my lifetime so far. The folks down the street just had their first child and he or she would be the fourth. When new people move here, they rarely leave until their kids are grown and gone. Sometimes not even then. There are two other houses besides mine that are occupied by the people that grew up in them. I have seen all those flights of tiny people grow up and go off into the world. It’s kind of cool.
I like your picture of heaven. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
August 7, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Hi Caryn,
I will go back to heaven shortly, after I finish writing Coffee. There is still no humidity today!!
It is kind of cool. One family arrived with a toddler son and just had their fourth child, their first girl. A couple of houses down from them had their fourth, also a girl, a couple of years ago. At another house, the owner sold it to her daughter and will continue to live there. It is kind of cool!
Have a wonderful day!!