The Porch Cam

I have a new obsession and everyone who knows about it thinks I'm nuts. (Well, I am nuts, but that's beside the point). I have gone through repeated phases of missing my home and family when I'm at work during the day. This became especially keen after my surgery in March (boy is that a blog for another day).
As a little prequel, Kristi & I have a link to the Clearwater Beach Pier Cam and we watch it frequently. There are 3 stationary cameras that show Clearwater Beach from 1) a condo; 2) the pier; and 3) the marina. We watch these cameras all year long, but most obsessively right before and right after vacation. These cameras gave me an idea ... and then Amazon provided the catalyst. They put indoor/outdoor monitoring cameras on the Gold Box Deal of the day a couple of months ago. So I bought one. After explaining to Artie what I wanted to do, and watching his eyes roll completely back in his head, I hooked it up. On our screened-in porch. And now I can view our screened-in porch in all its glory at any time, from anywhere, even from my iPhone.
Now, to be clear, not much takes place on our screened-in porch. During the day when I'm at work, Artie is either at work or school, and Logan is in his depths of his xbox world. So no one is on the porch then. Why would I want to stare at an empty porch?
Well, it gives me peace. It reminds me of what is waiting for me at home after a long, stressful work day. It reminds me how blessed I am to have such a beautiful home. It shows me what the weather is like at home and how many cars are across the road at the pool. And when Artie is at home from school, I can see him sitting out there reading the paper or watering the plants. Occasionally I ask Logan to just walk out there and wave at me. Sometimes he will and sometimes he'll just say, "Mom," in that you-are-so-ridiculous tone of voice that teenagers have perfected. So my new obsession is the porch cam, and whether or not you think I'm nuts, I love it!