Out on the Deck

Each spring, Joseph and I watch the weather report eagerly. We wait and wait and wait for the rains to slow down and the temperatures to rise because that means . . . it's time to put our air mattress out on the upper deck and sleep outside again. It's the most wonderful way to end a day. Fresh air, moonlight, the stars, breeze in the pines. It's private, sheltered, and just beautiful. This week was the first time we say a 10 day forecast that indicated little to no rain, so he blew up the mattress, hauled out sleeping bags and set up our bed. A few days later, he even brought out another one so that Coryn and Nicole could join us outside.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, nature is noisy but it is usually a wonderful serenade. We hear a lot of it even though we live in the city . . . bullfrogs, squirrels, birds, cats, dogs, and once even an owl. We hear wind and rain and chimes and distant traffic and train whistles. Other than one bird that I would gladly take an Uzi to (see last year's posts), I love all of it. I especially like that we have a baby next door this spring and I can hear it laugh and gurgle now and then.

Last night, however, I discovered what I can't tolerate . . . . a mattress with a leak. When we crawled in, all was well. However, I kept waking up every time I rolled over. Instead of just moving, I would slam into Joseph or almost topple off the side. When he got up earlier than I did, my head dipped down and my feet went up. If I hadn't been so sleepy, it would have been pretty funny. I dreamt that I was being swallowed up by some mysterious beast and then woke to find it was the air mattress. (We have been through SIX of these things now . . . are they just not built to last or what?!) Finally, at 6 am, Joseph woke me and we went inside and crawled into our bed.

We did sleep much better there for another couple of hours, but I missed nature. Gotta find a trustworthy air mattress before the next patch of summer weather!