The Reward

One of those times when you know you married the right person

This is the dinner my wonderful husband had waiting for me when I came home from school on the very last day after working until 9 p.m. to wrap all the loose ends of the year and finish packing away my room for the summer.

I decided to try a challenge a blogger put out a couple months ago, Debbie, I think it was you. I went into my photos randomly and decided to write about the photo that showed up on my phone. Actually, this one is perfect as it follows the porch sequence with ease, since this is on my screened porch. Dinner is sitting on the tile table I bought from a Moroccan merchant off the back of a truck in an alley. I came home from school exhausted but effusive as all the memories and logistics of the last year wrapped themselves around my tired framework

Without me asking, without me knowing, my husband decided I needed a steak dinner, no matter when I got home. So when I arrived, there it was….. steak, green beans, and a glass of Cabernet, a teacher’s refuge after the end of the year storm. As delicious as the dinner was, I was even more delighted by the fact that my hubby took the time to make it for me. This is another one of the moments in marriage where you know what your partner needs and it means more to them, because they didn’t have to say so. This quiet understanding permeates the cool evening air on a perfect night as we linger on the porch and anticipate the many nights to be spent together on the porch this summer Today in the torrential downpour, we have the perfect vantage point to participate in the energy of the storm. It rained a month’s worth of rain in just one hour and there are flash floods everywhere. Yet, we sit here safe and sound, while the storm rages around us. The porch enhances our experience of nature in storm and drang and in the stillness of the rainbows that follow.

One of my colleagues said that the evening of the day we finish school is the best day of summer. Maybe it is, the whole summer lies before you, filled with possibilities. You can easily imagine yourself organizing your whole house, playing with your grandchildren all day, seeing all of your friends, going to the beach, the mountains, and the Shenandoah. In one breath you see it all before you, and everything is possible. I sometimes think I wouldn’t have friends if it were not for the summer. During the year, school takes over my life. But now, as summer begins, I am a free agent, with time for it all My life is my own again. Funny that you can love your job but still cherish the freedom of not having to do it for a while.

the porch by day