No porch pondering today! Winter is back with its winds! I need to batten down the hatches. The wind is blowing things around on the porch. Yesterday was so spring like and warm. Stew and I sat on the porch after supper. Felt like spring. The bamboo forest is getting its exercise, bending and twisting in the wind this afternoon. Haven’t seen a squirrel brave enough yet to hitch a ride to the roof. Today has the beautiful blue sky, cloudless and clear. We weather the storms and God sends us deep blue skies and bright sunshine. We can apply that to our lives, too.

I think I am simple minded this morning! Have moved one of the bird feeders outside my lady den windows three times and every time I come come back inside and sit down, one of the window frames blocks my view. Finally gave up and put it back where it was to begin with. Have to turn around in my chair to see the feeder now but I’m used to that. I turn around in my swivel chair and Penelope jumps out of my lap and sits on the heater and watches the birds, too. The charm of finches is back today. Their chatting is so loud, sounds like they are arguing, but I think it’s happiness noise. I’ve read they sing in chorus so maybe that’s why they are so loud.

Remember sitting around the table eating dinner with your family at night. Young families now are so over worked and over scheduled with their children’s activities, I know it’s hard to sit down to a meal, much less have time to cook. And the price of groceries! We always ate dinner and supper together growing up. You could set your clock by us — dinner at 12 noon and supper at 5 PM. Can’t remember our breakfasts but I’m sure we were all together, too. My Daddy was a stickler about all of us eating together, specially at supper. Had a date once, was going to the City Cafe for the sirloin dinner for two, but Daddy made me sit with the family till our upper time was over.

I loved our summer dinners with fresh vegetables and delicious silver queen corn on the cob, and the homemade desserts. I loved Mama’s peach cobblers the most. Daddy would bring the corn home from the farm, already shucked, and would drop it in the water Mama had boiling. Nothing more delicious than fresh corn. Little brother and I probably ate a dozen ears or more between us. We still love it. Sunday dinners were special and delicious, too. Mama would leave a roast cooking in the oven while we went to Sunday school and church.

Middle brother sat across from me at the dinner table and loved to try and kick me on the shin bone. I’d put my legs on either side of the chair so he wouldn’t have a target. Loved hitting me on the arm, too. When I was in the 7th grade we passed once in the hall at school and he popped me on the arm. Got a family photo from Christmas a few years ago with my three brothers. We’re sitting on the sofa and middle brother has his arm drawn back to pop me. Never did it hard enough to hurt but it was a habit of his. I didn’t mind, either. Guess I considered them love licks.

We all watched tv together as a family, too. I have lots of wonderful memories of my little brother and I stretched out on the floor watching the Walt Disney Show on Sunday nights, with Daddy watching behind us in his chocolate brown easy chair. Think how many tvs are in our homes now. Most children have tvs in their room. I’m thankful my grandchildren watch tv with their parents. No tvs in their rooms, yet. But with their teenage years fast approaching that might change.

Didn’t have a tv here till I moved permanently to Roanoke after Chief died. My grandson said once, “Patty, I know this is a very old house but has it ever had a tv?” Chief and I got a good chuckle about that. I have a tv now in the lady den, a hand-me-down from my oldest son, and watch the 10 o’clock news in my bedroom on my iPad. My grandchildren used to wake me up early to play. They didn’t miss the tv because there had never been a tv here when they visited. They never even asked about tv. Now they wake me up to tell me they are going to watch tv so I get up and watch with them! I love them so much and don’t want to miss a minute of their visits.

Technology has taken family togetherness to a whole new level. Even when we gather together there are always a few on their phones, missing family time that can never be repeated or replaced. But then, technology lets us enjoy FaceTime as a modern way to stay connected and involved with our loved ones. Sometimes I think the world needs to take a deep breath, disconnect from technology, slow down and relax, and be present in the moment. We need to enjoy the beauty of the world around us. If you saw tonight’s wondrous sunset you’d understand. God has a myriad of colors on the palette he uses to paint his sunsets. Don’t hurry so fast through life you miss the sunsets. Life goes fast enough by itself. God gives us each day and we decide how we use it.