As I write the skies are still pre-dawn dark, dripping down lazily as I wipe the sleep from my eyes. The house panthers cuddled in close when the rain begun, I thought it was just chilly but was soon throwing off the sheet and blanket, covered in a humid sheen of sweat. It is late April in central Texas and I’ve still avoided turning on the A/C just yet, which is unheard of. In my past homes they’d heat so quickly under the relentless sun that by February the air conditioner was in full-time duty.
But this morning it’s the moisture in the air making me sweat, and I rolled over to turn the fan a bit to cool my skin.
Made a cuppa, sat down to read by candlelight with the door open to my just-finished porch. Mostly finished. Still have to build the cat tree out of pecan branches and leftover wood.
Yesterday Yuki and Squish finally were allowed out to enjoy the porch and they’ve been elated and terrified all at the same time. Unsure what to do with all the extra room to run about and feel exposed. Surprisingly wee Squish is the more cautious one and Yukes is the big bouncing nerd about it all. He nearly threw a cog loose yelling at me for a nibble of fresh grass from the yard, had his fill, and leapt up to watch from the table and judge his sister. She of course was being far too vigorous in her enjoyment of the greens and over-ate them just to retch it all up again.
This morning though, while the leftover bits of grass lay limp on the boards, they watched the rain come and increase then diminish.
In the four hours since waking fully they flowed like the storm outside, in and out, closer tucked to my side, then out climbing the bookshelf. I contented myself with leftover onion rings heated in the air fryer and some dipping sauce of my own making. I watched a scary movie then when the light lifted enough picked up a book to get lost in.
These days we are as separated from literature as we are from the wild. It’s too easy to pick up our handy little pocket computers and rush through clips, justifying ignoring our shelves with saying we are learning more online than we can from books.
With the porch comes an era of far fewer excuses. And more days of all the windows open 24/7 until the sun actively tries to cook those of us in Texas. Thankfully with a little home it cools and heats quickly so I can live more in flow with the temperature changes each day, and in turn more in flow with the natural world.
A Burd in Flight 