Changing our View
Our back porch is a great place to sit and relax. You can watch the water tumble down the rock waterfall then gurgle along the little creek path to the pond.
COVID and its stay-at-home mandate had us using our porch more. We sit and sip tea or coffee in the mornings or have iced tea in the evenings.
Our view was always the same.
Beyond the creek/pond, we watched the birds feed at the birdfeeders in the middle of the yard, and Finn chase the squirrels. He never gives up.
At the back is a high hedge at the fence. Only the neighbor’s roof is visible. To the left, there’s the canna bed with a birdbath, and to the right a peach tree. No peaches, though. The squirrels and birds eat them before they can ever mature.
Recently, our porch furniture changed, and I discovered different views and things that had always been there but never really seen.
My sister gave us her big wicker porch rocker when she moved out of state to be near her granddaughters. It’s large and had to be angled to fit between the porch supports.
Sitting in it, I see the vintage screen door propped against the fence. I think of all the screen doors in houses where I lived and hear the slam. The new view also lets us watch the dogwood tree blossom.
She also gave us the matching wicker porch swing.
It now hangs at the other end of the porch directly in front of the waterfall. The water up close splatters as it tumbles over the stones.
We can read the garden plaques. One says, “Grow old with me the best is yet to be,” the Browning quote. The other is the Irish road blessing, “May the road rise to meet you…” You know the one.
Finn and I love that swing.
My sister’s gifts made me realize how a simple change of position lets us see things that have been there all along. We never take the time to look.
I think I’m going to change where I sit at meals and at church from now on. I’m sure I’ll notice things my eyes never focused on before.