It occurs to me that of late this here back porch of mine has been too preoccupied with political shit such as rioters in Portland / Seattle, asshole politicians [redundancy alert] , the Chinkvirus and in general, the looming end of the world that is 2020.
So today I’m going to ignore all that, and put up some posts that are so trivial, so inconsequential and of so little lasting value that you, O my Readers, may be excused if you leave immediately for Breitbart, Insty or whatever, shaking your heads in sorrow while saying, “The old fart’s gone Biden on us.”
Enjoy…
Our front porch is pretty much our nice weather living room. My wife and I spend a lot of time on the porch and usually our mutt is with us and more often than not there is a cat or 4 sitting on a table inside the window watching us. They chairs are not rockers though and are heavily padded in waterproof but comfortable canvas. The table (that I built) in the middle is much larger with a lower shelf and is covered in a variety of reading materials, pencils, pens, tablets, etc. The chairs also have tables on the outboard sides (I built them too) littered with more of the same. We’re rural and shun people and enjoy observing the plethora of wildlife here on our compound. We’ve been here 14 years now and I don’t foresee ever leaving and probably my greatest regret is not moving here 20 years earlier as I would be less damaged by my previous exposure to society.
Absolutely cannot be outside here in central S.C. in summer. Trying to get town renamed “Hades Furnace, S.C.”! LOL
I woke up with a mental list of “outside stuff” I needed to do. Well it’s raining in Norman. I’ve got fast cars to look at – and this old guy has lusted over those Cobra curves for over 50 years, a pretty woman with curves too and a classic rifle to consider. Thanks for giving me a good morning.
This time of year, temps here at the Old Folks Home are ranging from 115 to 120+, and people here are dreaming of cabins such as in your picture, high up on the Mogollon Rim (6000 to 10,000 ft. altitude) where the high temps average 55-60 degrees. We are tough enough to survive the former, but we long for the latter.
I’m curious. What are the low temps in winter?
In my experience, not very.
Years ago, in search of gainful employment, me and a buddy went to Florida for a week. We had job offers from a small shop down Fort Myers way and the owner, who was a good dude, spared us the hassle of booking a hotel and let us crash at his place. Didn’t plan out, as luck would have it, South Florida being an expensive place and housing difficult to come by, but it wasn’t a bad way to kill a week.
One of the unexpected bonuses of said trip was the discovery of that most wonderful invention known as the lanai. In the case of our host the lanai was something akin to an outdoor living room, albeit roofed and screened to keep the mosquito populace out. Something of a near cousin to the sleeping porch with more livability, I suppose.
I’m surprised the idea hasn’t spread further, though if I’m ever in the unlikely position to own a house south of the Mason-Dixon it’d be one of the first additions on the list.
Growing up in New ENgland, our house had a port on the side. The bottom half was regular wall and the top half was almost exclusively sliding windows. We’d sit out there summer. Usually I was out there in the evening either with a portable TV or radio with a ballgame on or I’d just read a book. In the winter, the windows were shut and it was a kind of mud room so you didn’t let the heat out of the house by going directly into the front door.
Around here, you can find some houses with three season porches or sometimes they get called florida rooms.
I never heard the word lanai until I watched house hunters or some such show on HGTV.
Either way, my next house will have a screened porch so I can sit there an either watch wild life or people watch.
JQ
I lived 20 years in Fort Myers, graduated from Fort Myers High in 1972, then 20 more years in Cape Coral, across the river. I design buildings. While it was trendy for some to call it a Lanai I always called it a Porch and most homes there have at least one. Screen is necessary because of the mosquito’s and no-see-ems.
When we moved here to Hoosierville 14 years ago I was stunned that absolutely no one had a screened in porch on their house. Most had a deck that was mostly vacant because of, you guessed it, bugs. The house we bought had a minimalist deck on the back and my first remodeling project here was to build a large 2 story rig with a screened in porch on the 1st floor and a open deck with railing on the 2nd floor. From April to October we spend much of our time on them.
What was the name of the shop where you sought employ in Fort Myers?
Shop was 1776 Gunsmithing. At last check they’re still around, though they seem to be operating on greatly reduced hours (one day a week, I think) and can only be reached through facebook as their website redirects.
The use of ‘lanai’ may have had something to do with the proprietor being a fairly recent arrival himself.
Whatever the term, a screened porch is a worthwhile addition.
You know, that porch isn’t going to sweep itself. Someone’s loving hands will have to caress that broom leaning against the wall in loneliness.
Nope. That’s what the $50 Ryobi 18v leaf blower off-screen is for.