Last Sunday I woke up early, I lay in bed silently going over my “gratitude list.” In the distance I heard thunder.
I put on a pot of coffee and stepped out to the screen porch to sit for a while. The wind coming out of the west was making the chimes tinkle, doves cooed in the pines waiting for Jilda to feed them. I could smell rain in the distance and made a mental note to add screened porch to my gratitude list.
A few years ago we made the decision to do some home improvements. A screened porch was at the top of Jilda’s list. It is now our favorite spot. A ceiling fan, a tile topped table and lots of plants make it homey and comfortable. A string of white Christmas lights surround it and twelve sets of wind chimes give us atmosphere and soothing sounds.
A few weeks ago we were having our morning coffee on the porch and we noticed a tiny sparrow inside. I realized the ceiling fan was on, so I jumped up and cut the fan off, while we tried to figure out what to do with the bird.
As the fan stopped spinning I moved to open the door so the bird could escape. Instead the bird dropped to the floor and scooted out a tiny tear in the screen. It was obvious she had done that before.
Looking around the porch, nothing was out of the ordinary, until I looked at the rack where my fly rods hang. There’s a small wicker heart shaped basket the hangs with the rods.
A closer look revealed bits of straw hanging from the small basket. I took a closer look and heard a little tweeting sound and saw three tiny birds.
As Jilda looked, we heard the
momma fussing at us. We knew we could not use the fan for a while and couldn’t fix the tear in the screen. Our unexpected guests had to be taken care of and protected.
When I was growing up, screened porches were common. It was a place to shell peas, visit, and have a glass of tea. I know that building that porch was a very smart thing to do. Jilda does art on that porch, I write my column there, it is the perfect place to have morning coffee. We have written songs there, shared a glass of wine with friends and eaten meals on that tile-topped table. It really is the best room in the house.
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