Porch Approved, Swing Under Review
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By Sweetie- Herald K9 Correspondent
It’s me, Sweetie.
There has been a noticeable improvement in porch conditions, and I feel it is important to acknowledge that. The porch itself is not new. The lounge chairs have been here this whole time. I have seen them, considered them, and made a very deliberate decision to ignore them. This was not personal. This was pollen. A thick, settled, fully committed layer of it. The kind that does not brush off. I was not going to be part of that, so I adjusted my expectations and carried on.
And then, without any real discussion, my human cleaned everything. Not a quick swipe. Not one of those efforts where things get moved around and called done. No. This was thorough. The chairs are chairs again. The surfaces exist. I can sit without becoming part of the environment. I do have some questions about why this took so long, but I am choosing, for now, to move forward.
There are also rugs. Two. This is a bold choice. I was not consulted, which I would like noted, but even so, I approve. The first rug has clearly established the main seating area. There is a table. There are chairs. This is where meetings happen, and I have a seat at the table. Not near it. Not under it. At it. This has been understood. Adjustments are made as needed.
The second rug defines what appears to be a lounging area, which includes the porch swing. Now, I enjoy the porch swing. I will sit on it with my human. The motion is acceptable when handled correctly. However, I do not get on the swing by myself. There was an incident. I will not go into detail, but I will say the swing made a decision that day that I did not agree with, and I ended up on the floor. Since then, I have determined the swing cannot be trusted without supervision.
There are also plants. A number of them. Some are on tables, some on stands, and one appears to be reaching outward in a way that feels unnecessary. I have seen enough movies to understand where that leads, so I am keeping an eye on it. That said, they do make the porch feel like something, which my human seems to enjoy. They also provide excellent positions for monitoring the street.
And the street continues to perform as expected. Cars pass. Neighbors move about with no real awareness of the situation. Squirrels remain a problem. The view is clear, the screens are doing their job, and everything is visible. I have, of course, overseen all of this, including standing exactly where work was being done, stepping into freshly cleaned areas, and sitting in the center of both rugs to confirm their purpose. Everything has now been arranged correctly.
Which brings me to a concern. It is April. We do not have long before Mississippi summer arrives and turns this porch into a sauna. So now, just as everything is right, it is also about to become unusable. This is poor timing.
Still, I will be making use of it while I can. The chairs are clean. The rugs are in place. My seat at the table has been established. The swing is acceptable with supervision. The plants are being watched. The porch is ready.
