1985: The Deck
So we were very pleased with the French doors we'd put in the bedroom. We felt like we practically slept outside. The only problem was, if you stepped out the French doors, you would fall about three feet. So Craig decided to build a deck.
I think it would be fair to say that this was his first real stab at carpentry. He got some of his ideas for the design out of a book. I was no help whatsoever.
I think it was like this: he leveled the ground under the doors, laid down black plastic and covered it with gravel. Then he set six cement blocks as pads for the uprights, which are four-by-four pressure-treated pine.
The subfloor is framed in two-by-sixes, and the one against the house is anchored to the slab. Then he nailed down planks and built a rail around the whole thing. I think the hardest part was building the steps. He poured a slab landing which he later tiled with Sautillo.
Voila. Now, as you can see, this deck is not in the shade - never has been. It faces south. So we pretty much never sit out there in the day. If the sun is out at all, it is too hot. I have never even really used it for sunning (which I hardly ever do anyway).
On the other hand, it is beautiful in early morning, late evening, and all night. Most of all, our dogs have loved it. From the top of the deck steps, they survey the sleeping yard and wait for night animals to emerge.
The only drawback is that sometimes the night animal is a skunk. More than once, I have sleepily answered a bark at the door only to have an agitated stink bomb fly past me into the house. The next hour is spent in the bathtub sluicing vinegar and shampoo over the disgraced dog.
Who always had a long time of it trying to convince me that he or she should ever be allowed to stay out on the deck late at night again. But when the smell had faded into memory, Pirate in the early days and Wily after him would say, Oh please - it's so beautiful and exciting out there. I'll just look.
So I'd say, only for a minute, and I am going with you. And we'd both step out in the cool night air. And I'd look at the stars and try to see into the shadowy corners where obviously my dog was seeing and hearing and smelling things that were undetectable to me. A bat would fit by the corner of my eye, and an owl would hoot. And I'd say, okay, but no skunks!
Related: Night Animals
