A Porch With Screens:My Personal Shangrila

I moved into my house almost eight years ago to the month. It was a 40 year old home, in complete disrepair. It took one full year to design on paper and another to build; a complete rehab, down to the studs and drywall. During those two years, I was attending graduate school full time and was the mother to a five and a six year-old, and I had one full-on anxiety attack to show for my efforts. It was, and still is a labor of love, but that's a story for another day. Today I want to tell you about my screened in porch.

The house already had a screened in porch off the back, complete with fake, green astro-turf, turned black and moldy. I remember the conversation with my architect vividly. He was explaining to me how the existing porch was to be elongated, from the addition and reconfiguration of that area of the house. The floor, walls and screens all to be replaced and a new, bigger and better screened in porch would be the result.

"I'll never use it," I said. "It will be a waste of time and resources."

"There's already an existing foundation there, so rather than waste time and resources digging that up, we will make it better and more functional, " he said. "You'll love it."

That was an understatement, for the unwanted step-child of a screened in porch, quickly became my favorite spot in my home. Having just returned from my vacation to beautiful 85 degree weather, my first order of business was to get my porch in perfect working order. As you can see from the photo above, I wasted no time "pimping out" my space. Every year it gets better and better. This year, I bought a new coffee table, seat cushions and my favorite element, multiple lanterns for the candlelit twilight hours. I sit here now, typing these words for you, overlooking my lush green landscape and listening to a symphony of birds, welcoming me to their daily concert. I shudder at the prospect of my blase, youthful inexperience somehow convincing my architect to nix the plans for the porch, for I relish the time spent here.

We eat dinners as a family here. We share cocktails and stories with friends and relatives into the wee hours of the night here. We sit and read magazines, novels, newspapers and blogs here, never needing to talk; the heat bugs and Mother Nature's soundtrack consistently provided in the background. We do have important, deep, sometimes silly and trusted conversations here, and we create lasting memories here.

I welcome the inspiration that may come from sitting on my porch, lap-top in tow, dogs at my feet, creating Dandy's daily and commenting on yours. I will utilize the time my porch and I have, for it is fast and fleeting. After all, I live in New England, but for now I am content to sit and type and enjoy.

And for today, all is right with the world.