The Front Porch

We have always been a family of campers. Not because we all especially liked it. But because that was pretty much the only way we could afford to travel with our 5 kids. Some of the kids really hated it but when you are part of a family I guess you take the good with the bad. The boys, including Tom, were all involved in scouts so camping was totally right up their alley! Anyways had it not been for our camping adventures, we'd probably not have as many family adventures as we did. Which is starting to bring me to the point of this blog. It was during one such camping trip - to Ludington, that Tom found a place for sale. (I'll write about it some other time.) I had stayed home that weekend with some of the kids, for some reason. Anyways we went back up to look at this place a week or two later and decided to make an offer. So long story short...we bought it 11 years ago and have enjoyed it with family and friends all summer every summer.

Okay almost to the point...... Every summer since we bought it I have packed up the kids the day after school was out and headed up there where we spent the entire summer. Except for a day or two here and there when we came home to pay bills, do some laundry or whatever.

This summer, however, everything is different. First of all I have no kids left at home. Aha! The fabled "empty nest" is real!!! At least for the moment! (I'll tell you about that later.) Second, my mom & dad are needing more attention from me this summer with her broken hip on the mend and stuff. Third, I had my hand surgery which requires multiple follow up visits with the Doc and therapy. So I think I have been up there a total of about 6 days this summer. Not complaining just thinking about how different this summer is.

Are you ready for the point? Okay we have lived in this house for 12 years now and I have never spent a summer at home. And I LOVE it! One of my favorite things is sitting on the porch first thing in the morning before it gets hot. Seriously, I get out of bed to get to the porch early before the sun hits it. I take my coffee, my Bible, my journal and the sales flyers. It is lovely! The picture on the left is the porch and the picture on the right is the view. It is quite private. So much so that I could sit there in my skivvies. If I wanted to. But I don't anymore. Ever since the day the first (of 6) siding contractors came by to give a quote. Who knew they gave quotes at that hour???

When we first moved out here the kids would complain about how loud the birds were every morning. I remember Nathan actually yelling at them to "shut up!" Seriously??!! Anyways this morning, while on the porch, there were so many birds singing! It was like a bird choir or something. I'm not a bird person (surprise huh?) but it was awesome. Since we've moved here I've seen the usual robins, bluejays, cardinals, some brown birds, some black and white birds. Basically the same birds that lived in Livonia with us. But I've also seen woodpeckers (very cool except for making holes in my porch pillars that other unsuspecting birds fall into! but that's another story!), blue birds, orioles, some yellow birds, wood ducks (that nested in my attic), bats (maybe they're not birds?) and hummingbirds. This morning there was a hummingbird flitting around the purple flowers on my hostas. I wanted to run and grab my camera but knew that it would be too late so I just sat there quietly and watched. Very cool! It must've rained last night so everything was still wet. Do you know how pretty all those bushes and plants look with drops hanging on them? With the sun hitting them just right so they look all sparkly? Or how when the breeze hits the trees and all the leftover raindrops fall all glittery looking? It even smells wonderful - like wet wood or something. No - it smells like up north. Yeah that's it! Come on over and try it early some morning. You'll love it!