Porch living - May 1997

Grammie & Grampa loved sleeping outside on their porch.  Each year they would try to get out as early in the season as possible - April maybe - and stay out as late as possible - into November sometimes.  You can tell from her writing that she loved nature and the outdoors.

May 5, 1997

It was a bit frosty this morning when we woke up so I just buried my head under the blankets & stayed there for awhile.  Grampa puts on his winter jacket over his bathrobe, his hat & gloves - a cup of coffee in hand, and goes out to sit on the patio, where he talks to the birds and squirrels.  When I get up I put on the intercom and call him in for breakfast.  It was good to hear from you on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to your coming home, even for only a week.  Now I must get dressed and get outside & do some garden work, before the rain comes again tomorrow.  Lots of love.

These two postcards had art prints on the fronts; the one pictured below is The Betrothal II by Arshile Gorsky.  I love how Grammie doesn't hold back her thoughts on these abstract works!

May 12, 1997

Here is more art?  Sometimes I wonder what's inside people's heads.

The other afternoon I lay on the couch out on the porch, and watched the clouds roll by, a deep blue sky as a backdrop.  I looked thru the binoculars at the dead tree in the neighbor's yard.  There are lots of holes in the tree and I was hoping to see an owl peek out - but - no such luck.  I even was able to see into the neighbor's clothes pin bag & I looked for some "ya-buts" - but couldn't find any...

A hummingbird flew into the porch when Grampa opened the door.  He knocked himself out trying to get out.  I stood on the table & was able to reach him.  He was so so tiny & soft.  I set him outside on the rail and watched him for a half-hour.  He finally came to and flew away.  My good deed for the day.

When my sister and I were younger and Grampa would tell us a 'tall-tale' or the like, we would want to set him right.  So we would often start our counter-arguments with "Yeah, but..."  Grampa immediately stopped us to tell us that "ya-buts" were just little creatures that lived in grandma's clothes-pin bag. It frustrated us to no end!  We would have to come up with a different way to counter his tales!  Looking back, I can see it was a way he was teaching us to think carefully before we spoke and to reason out our arguments clearly.  Grampa was a jokester, but he was a thoughtful, intelligent man who deeply cared about people and the world.  Although he was actually my dad's step-father (Grammie's third husband), he was the only grandfather I knew, and I was very glad to have him in my life.