the front porch

i read a series of books a few years ago by Phillip Gulley - i think that is his name. he suggested that the decline of western civility began when people stopped putting porches on the front of their houses.

and i agree.

I have been to, and lived in, houses that had them, and those houses haunt me to this day. i ache for the beautiful swing at the Delaney's in Spokane. and the Breedens had a sweet little porch perfectly situated in the middle of a beautiful little rose garden in the front yard. I have roses in my backyard as a tribute to that yard.  i love those porches. i love the conversations i had there, and the people i knew there. i love that people would just stop by for a visit, put one foot up on the step and jingle their keys to indicate that at any minute they may need to leave, but for the moment, they were content to stop and visit for a little bit.

porches are made for quick little conversations, a bit of catch up time. or, they are made for surprise deeper conversations that may be needed for the moment.

in any case, porches are simply inviting.

they are your outdoor living room, but more open to the passer by.

i dream of those lovely southern porches with the hammock and an outdoor fan. sure, they pre-date air conditioning, but i still love them. if i can have air conditioning and an outdoor fan...really? what else could i ask for? maybe my house in heaven will have a porch with a swing and a fan. (will it be hot enough in heaven for a fan? i do love fans)

we notice that new housing developments are adding porches to the homes. and we are glad. mind you, there is a postage stamp of lawn, but still there are porches and they stand as a tribute to our need to connect with the people in our neighbourhoods. the kids may not have a place to play in the sprinkler, but at least they will know what it is to sit on the porch and wave at the crazy people who live across the street.

so the markets tumble and governments rise and fall, but a society without porches is also a tragedy, and i don't think enough people fully grasp the contribution of a neighbourhood that cares enough to sit in their front yard.

i will have a porch someday - maybe not now because our street is really loud and i sleepwalk sometimes (see earlier posts). but when i live in a safer neighbourhood and i can wander around whenever i feel like it, i will have a lovely porch with a swing and couches and a fan and, oh...the options are limitless.

thank you for listening to my little dialogue about this strange little topic. we must all have our secret loves.

long live the porch!