The arrival of warmer weather means that unless there is rain, supper at my house is always served outside on the back deck. Everything tastes better when its eaten al fresco and we’ll be out here for meals until the cold weather arrives. And we’ll be eating salads. I have a nearly endless array of salad recipes and I’m a wizard with homemade dressing so……come on over for salad.
You name the salad and I’ll be serving it on the back deck until it's too dark or cold to eat out here.
My first house in Nebraska had a fireplace with a terrific Craftsmen-style mantle. In the backyard garden, I grew zinnias, cosmos, dahlias, and gladiola flowers that I arranged in bunches on the mantle all summer long. I liked coming into the living room and admiring the flowers from my garden. Sassafras House doesn’t have a fireplace and bouquets get set on the dining room table. That’s nice, but I have missed flowers in the living room.
This summer, I planted zinnia seeds in pots on the back deck. They can be seen out the back window from nearly every vantage point in the living room and it’s been lovely.
That’s happy!
Since the weather became warm enough to eat outside, JT and I always have supper on the back deck. Summer suppers are cooked on the grill or are salads and sandwiches that come together easily. Most evenings, we don’t eat until after 7, when the fiercest heat has begun to fade. We soak up the twilight, the growing zinnia and canna blooms, some music, and the time to relax. We share details about our days and enjoy one another’s company. Even when JT is away for the night, I eat outside, with a book and music to keep me company. Al fresco supper has become one of the nicest parts of the Summer and that’s happy.
May brings all the gloriousness of Spring in full bloom, usually with with enough warm weather to reliably plan suppers on the back deck. At Sassafras House, that often means firing up the charcoal grill for burgers or chicken. Just as often, back deck supper is a plate of cheeses, salted meats, crackers, nuts, grapes, carrots or marinated veg, some kind of jam (three cheers for fig jam, by the way)….whatever I have on hand, set on a plate or wooden board and enjoyed with a chilled glass of wine. I know that the Internet calls this kind of thing a charcuterie board but for me it’s snack tray supper and it’s delicious.
Come May, I begin to organize the front porch and back deck for the outdoor living season. Well before May, I am daydreaming about being outside with my face turned toward the light and warmth. Both the porch and the deck expand the reach of my home and offer a comfortable place to read and relax.
I have a collection of house flags and I decorate the table on my front porch for every season. But I pull out all the stops for Summer, which starts when I choose two hanging baskets for the iron hooks on the porch pillars.
A few years ago, I used my Covid teaching bonus to buy some Polywood chairs and they get a lot of use in the Summer, tucked into the corner and perfect for napping in the sunshine.
We eat many a grilled meal at this table.
The back deck also gets flowers. This year, I started with some pots of begonias to keep me company as I wait for the canna bulbs and zinnia flowers to bloom. This year, I have five pots of zinnias…..it’s probably too many but I have daydreams of being surrounded by the flowers and I’m looking forward to Mason jars full of zinnia bouquets.
I never longed for the start of Summer as much I longed for Summer this year. The hybrid school year took its toll and when June hovered into sight I was so glad for the prospect of time off. I took advantage of that time and the unscheduled days of the last few months has been lovely.
Though the last school year ended on a positive note - I began to believe we might not have to wear masks forever - the rise of the Delta variant over the summer has put those hopes to rest. New Jersey is a high vax state and we’ll all be wearing a mask at school. I’m checking the over 12 vaccination rate in my region and my school with a slight obsessiveness (school is over 80%, so that’s hopeful) and reading every study I can find about ventilation. In short, the pandemic and its attendant anxiety are still very much with me as the start of school is very much on the horizon.
That makes Old Man Tree, this backyard, and time outside more important than ever. As the busy days ramp up, I am grateful for time here, with a tree that is old enough that it was here for post-WWI influenza pandemic and will surely see us through this uncertainty as well.
Come the warm weather season, impatiens and begonias are my kryptonite. In May, I stroll by these flowers in garden shops and I can never pass by without putting a few more in my cart. I never try to talk myself out of them and I always come home with more than I planned. I fill every pot and planter that I have and then spread them out on the front porch and back deck so that wherever I go there are flowers to greet me.
That’s happy!
I am immersed in prepping my Civics and Citizenship class and rather than sit at my desk, I’ve taken operations outside whenever possible. So it was that Sunday found me working on the back deck in the afternoon, after spending much of my morning on the front porch.
Staycation is the name of the game this Summer and while I will miss the adventure of seeing someplace new, I am grateful for the blessings of this back deck, where I can enjoy the sunshine and the shade and even fit in a bit of a nap.
Now that old man tree has leafed up, much of the day finds the back deck under a canopy of shade.
I can spend hours out here with my books, sitting in the shade next to the flower pots that soak in the back deck sunlight. The pots of impatiens look like they have a cap of flowers
The pink begonias - which seemed to attract the squirrels - are hearty and cheerful.
These companions brighten the day and remind me to be glad of my blessings, both great and small.
