He's a Winner

The meditation today was this…it's a beautiful day. We were up early to finish taming the patio garden before the bees arrived. Where should we sit to relax?

It turns out it's not an easy answer. We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to outdoor seating…especially coming from our Berkeley home where we were quite happy to sit in the back of our driveway in the evening because it was the only place that got any sun, assuming the fog didn't roll in first.

Yesterday I drank my Morning coffee on the covered porch which is just off our kitchen and furnished with comfy outdoor furniture and pillows. It is sheltered and has a fine view of the bird feeders. Because of the roof, it traps the heat. Perfect for morning coffee.

There is the arbor which OilMan favors because he has a little fire pit up there and he has the pyromaniac tendencies of many men who like to grill meat, stare into flames and poke the coals with a stick. It has the best view, over the roof of our house of forest, farm and vineyard lands, but in the summer, the proximity of tinder dry grasses, fire and a pyromaniac makes me a bit nervous. (He did start a small fire down by the street with one of his "mole bombs", but a neighbor put it out and OilMan promised to lay off the mole bombs for now).

In the evening, I find the patio right behind our house with the tree trunk table, the yellow umbrella and a view of the garden we have been toiling over is a nice place to relax in the evening with a glass of wine. We often eat out there too. The fog rarely rolls in here and we both agree that we made the right decision to move.

There is also a little patio right outside our bedroom door. There's nothing much out there right now because it is too cold in the morning and too hot the rest of the time to sit and relax. It will soon be home to the new hot tub, which will make it a lovely place to relax right before bedtime.

We could have sat anywhere today because the temperature was just about perfect everywhere. Instead, we were inside watching American Pharaoh win the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Pimlico and Belmont Park), the first horse to do it since Affirmed won it in 1978, putting him up there in rarefied company of Seattle Slough and Secretariat. Forgive the poor quality of the screen grab, taken just as he ran into the shade of the home stretch. I loved his well muscled haunch and the fact that all four of his feet were off the ground. Who needs Edward Muybridge…all one needs is a television!