Of Crummy and Ideal Realities

Well let's consider this the 'before' picture(the one below). My back porch is a funky, fading thing, something I've wanted to fix for the longest time.Without getting fixed, it's not long for this world. So, something that doesn't have to get done right this minute, but in the next available one. Hadda get the finances somewhat, like, together, before embarking on any home-improvement projects. So now I'm ready to proceed.

I had a backyard lawn that had grown into a menagerie of plant life- mainly along the fence, but the two sides were starting to meet each other. It was a jungle. This is obviously the 'after' picture. Funny thing that sometimes you can't see one problem for another. Once all the shrubbery was cleared out, I could see with much greater clarity the state of my back porch. And maybe once the back porch is taken care of, this will illuminate yet another problem. Or, hopefully, at that point I'll just be able to hang out on my expanded back porch and enjoy it.

One step at a time. I've always wanted more of a back porch, one I could sit out on first thing in the morning or last thing at night drinking whatever fluid is appropriate for that time of day. This is where my dog has his meals, so his dining room will expand along with my back porch. Actually I'm thinking more along the lines of a deck, adding another 10-15 feet or so.

There is the present crummy reality, as pictured, and then the picture in my mind of a nice deck suitable for all manner of activity: lounging, sunbathing, eating, even screwing if the lights are off. But we ain't there yet. We're still in the present crummy-ass reality. Then again, like so many of our present crummy realities, it can be fixed. In this case, just involves getting up off of a few bucks(well more than a few).

Soon these will both be 'after' pics. Then on to another 'before'..