Thursday, April 8, 2021

Sundown Porch Sits


We’ve had over a week of mostly sunny days and the Mighty Dachshund and I have had quite a few porch sits. I especially try to be out there a little before sundown so I can watch the day end and the night begin. The sunsets have certainly been beautiful. Even a couple cloudy evenings had clouds that were thin enough to let the color spread far to the north and south. I’ve always preferred sunsets over sunrises, besides, anymore, I always want to go back to bed after a pretty sunrise.

Most evenings have been fairly silent. I suspect part of that comes from the loss of edge cover at the forest edge 30’ away. After mowing to the tree line for 40 years, the trees have sent their branches far enough into the yard that they’re shading out the underbrush, leaving only the greenbriers, which gives the birds safety, but no real cover.

One evening was less than silent for some reason. An Indian hen sang down in the woods, A squirrel with a super-active tail raised a fuss a couple trees from the forest edge and a downy woodpecker hammered for bugs in the growing dusk.

Two robins forages on the lawn before me and a little brown bat zig-zagged around in the air above them. Dogs barked in the distance and the hum from the four-lane was noticeable. Just after the sun disappeared, a pair of geese circled the area for about five minutes honking up a storm. As the darkness settled in, the tree frogs grew louder as the robins and other birds disappeared.

From the swing, I can still see the far side of the hollow during daylight hours and the airport lights at night. I look for that to change in the next couple of weeks. One thing about having few or no clouds, it makes for moonlit and starry nights. We’re often out there long enough that I notice the stars have changed positions. I’d forgotten that the earth rotates counter-clockwise, but the stars reminded me.

You’ve probably noticed that I don’t write posts as often as I once did. That’s partly because I spend so much time with the memes and pictures, and partly because few people seem to read them anymore. My writing was why I began this blog; the memes just came along as a by-product of all the time that I spend on Fascistbook. Now the memes draw the most interest. Even then, I notice that my page views are about half what they were a year ago. It would be interesting to know the reason. Copyright 4/8/2021



Vicki said...

I enjoy you porch sits with the Mighty Dachshund. They take me out of the city and let me enjoy the country I miss so much.

Gorges Smythe said...

I'm glad that you enjoy them, Vicki.