{"id":20613,"date":"2020-12-23T17:25:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T17:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=20613"},"modified":"2020-12-29T17:39:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T17:39:03","slug":"life-island-times-this-old-porch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/life-island-times-this-old-porch\/","title":{"rendered":"Life & Island Times: This Old Porch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: I am not going to fulminate this morning about the alleged COVID Relief Bill, festooned with all sorts of things completely unrelated to the pandemic, and which actually represents all sorts of what we used to call “Pork.” There is very little contained in it for the people most affected by COVID. The Bill actually represents a breakdown in what we used to call “the Appropriations Process,” and is now a wild grab bag of completely unrelated things. Some of them include reforming the Pakistani marriage process ($10-15 Million), necessary horse-racing reforms, new cars for overseas HIV\/AIDS workers and another shot of cash for the beloved Kennedy Center here in DC. In the old days, all those things would be discussed in Committee and voted on before being forwarded to the House and Senate.. Now we operate under what are called “Continuing Resolutions” in which all the crazy stuff from the previous year are “continued” without debate, while all sorts of wonderful new things are jumbled on top and again passed without debate. It is sort of crazy, but it absolves our elected representatives of responsibility for what they were “elected” to do. It is pretty crazy, isn’t it? Oh well, I told you this was going to be an entertaining year. Marlow has another and welcome approach to the whole thing, and shows us something about ourselves, and the things we do. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

-Vic<\/p>\n

This Old Porch<\/p>\n

Two blocks from the street named Bull is an old porch under sunny skies most every day
\nStanding cooled by two maple trees shade in sweet Savannah, Gee Ay
\nWe sit there playing hide-n-seek with the plague, medicated with bourbon-n-gin
\nWe’re not sweatin’ nor a-pantin’ this stuff \u2018cause the fun here it never ends
\nNo, we got stories to share while drinking, since raisin\u2019 cane ain\u2019t no mortal sin<\/p>\n

Sitting on this old porch been as good as eating special homemade enchiladas
\nWith lots of cheese, green Hass chili\u2018d salsa with a side of corn chip saladas
\nYou can\u2019t get better even at Rancho Alegre downtown on MLK
\nWith sweet tea and young Cuban refugee waitresses who will smile every time
\nWe leave \u2018em big tips on thirty-dollar bills — a plague time payday dime<\/p>\n

Our old porch\u2019s a movable feast, all are welcome to join-in just off main street Savannah Gee Ay
\nIn post rebellion 1881 a businessman\u2018s family built and lived on it for 120 years of summery days
\nIt\u2019s got a side yard with flowers since W came to town
\nOn it I suspect lots of Horehound candies and Red Hots were gobbled down
\nYes, I do, but now it\u2019s bourbon and gin that flicker and tickle our old movie picture spirits<\/p>\n

This old porch\u2019s a weathered, gray-hair that\u2019s seen a hundred and forty years of Savannah Gee Ay
\nWe’re doing all we can not to let her give in to age these days
\nShe always takes in those escaping summer hailstorms cruel fate
\nSo long as they bring in some bourbon or gin and ain\u2019t too late
\nWe crave assorted pick-me-ups for snackin as we listen to each other prattle
\nJust sharing our stuff keeps us safe from that muddy rivered-lung death rattle
\nNo longer is there cane to grind and cotton’s long been gone
\nAll we got is each other, endless days of What, Me Worry to come<\/p>\n

Spencer\u2019s old porch seen a long time of waiting but not forgetting
\nRemembering those coming back, not crying ’bout friends leaving
\nAnd remembering forever them that were struck down
\nAnd the laughter and the curse of our dumb luck
\nWhile cursing those sons-of-bitches, who said we’d never get back up<\/p>\n

Two blocks from the street named Bull stands an old porch under sunny skies most every day
\nStanding under two maple trees shade in sweet Savannah, Gee Ay
\nWe sit there playing hide-n-seek with the plague, medicated with bourbon-n-gin
\nWe’re not sweatin’ nor a-pantin’ this stuff \u2018cause the fun here it never ends
\nNo, we got stories to share while drinking, since raisin\u2019 cane ain\u2019t no mortal sin<\/p>\n

This old Park Avenue porch, old to now, top to bottom:<\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-1\"
\nca 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-2\"
\nSpring1954: Samuel Spencer (original owner\u2019s son) and his great grand niece<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-3\"
\n2001<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-4\"
\n2008<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-5\"
\nSpring 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-6\"
\nSpring 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LIT122320-7\"
\nDecember 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

And with a tip of the hat to Bob Dylan . . .<\/p>\n

This plague\u2019s been a lifetime of lost loves and blood
\nThere was blackness no truth, airwaves full of crud
\nIt came from an eastern wilderness, an evil devoid of form
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

And if friends pass this way today, they can rest assured
\nI\u2019ll always do my best by them, on that I give my word
\nIn this world of black-eyed liars, we\u2019re fighting not to be harmed
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Suddenly April turned, we saw it marching here and there
\nIts icy grip around our chests, wheezing in too little air
\nIt silently came over us and jammed upon us crowns of thorns
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI’ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Lotsa words passed among Park Avenue\u2019s porches, there was little risk involved
\nNothing about this plague up to summer\u2019s end had been resolved
\nCouldn\u2019t imagine a Christmas, where we\u2019d be safe and warm
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

We were burned out by the election, buried in political mail
\nPoisoned were our politics, total BS from the campaign trail
\nVoters treated like prey, ravaged in the fields of corn
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s a wall between us, something\u2019s gone, not just lost
\nWe took so much for granted, FBI got its tap wires crossed
\nCome to think, the plague began one Asian grey-skied morn
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Run-off election\u2019s like a foreign country\u2019s, carpet baggers crossing our state line
\nTruth can\u2019t survive their razor-edged lies, pressing me to make them mine
\nIf I could only turn back the clock to when America\u2019s truth was born
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Well, old legs feel like I\u2019m walking on nails, while politicians glide about
\nBut nothing really matters much, gloom and doom the candidates shout
\nAnd their empty-eyed TV-types blow their triumphant horns
\nCome on out and sit a spell, the porch said
\nI\u2019ll give you shelter from this storm<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2020 From My Isle Seat
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: I am not going to fulminate this morning about the alleged COVID Relief Bill, festooned with all sorts of things completely unrelated to the pandemic, and which actually represents all sorts of what we used to call “Pork.” There is very little contained in it for the people most affected by COVID. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-island-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20613"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20624,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20613\/revisions\/20624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}