Sunday, May 25, 2008

PORCHES



The back porch is our favorite place to hang out when we're home. It's where I do about 75% of my writing, where we have our morning coffee & where we have dinner (when the heat & humidity isn't too high). It's quiet, secluded & best of all, screened in.



This slithery looking character is a 6 foot black racer snake that seems to enjoy the front porch lately. Deb took this picture a couple of days ago - too bad he ducked his head as she clicked. Maybe he's camera shy. I chased him away again today. Racers are harmless, pygmy rattlers are not. This time of year, it's common to run across both species, making flower bed & shrub maintenance a little more challenging than it should be.



This is our front porch - minus the snake. It's rarely used. We always go through the garage to get into the house. The only time we spend out front is to water the gajillion plants, palm & ficus trees that Deb has stationed about. The marigolds are somewhat wilted in this picture because we were away for a week & they didn't get watered. The geraniums did OK.



Now here's a picture of what we really use the front porch for - watching the shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center, which is just a bit south of us. This is a shot of Atlantis taking off not too long ago, taken from right next to the middle column out front.