Picnic On The Porch

I love the porch.

It's been so nice to sit there in the early mornings with my coffee, and in the later evening after it's cooled down, and then you can hear all the crickets and night noise. The cats love it, too. They think they're outside, and they think that they're hunting when they see squirrels and birds, but nobody gets hurt this way.

A halk family has moved into the area, though, and that has changed the dynamics of the backyard. At least we think it might be a family. There were four of them perched in the tall branches right above the porch. I found my binoculars to get a closer look, and they really do have have sharp, seeing eyes. I saw them watching Punk as she lay in the porch, which was creepy. And when they're hanging around the porch, the rest of the yard gets really quiet and you don't see any song birds, squirrels, or bunnies out and about. Once they fly off somewhere else, the birds and animals return, and it feels peaceful and safe again. I kind of wish those halks would just move on.

We decided to have a little picnic in the porch for Mom. She loves hot dogs with chopped onions and relish, and potato chips, and potato salad so that's what I made. I used the little red electric grill, and although the grill marks on the wieners were quite pronounced, they tasted just fine. We had mini ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

It's the first of August today, and I refuse to think that summer is nearing the end. I think perhaps we enjoy that porch for as long as we can.