Some nights we would stay home, sit on the porch and wave and shout greetings from our porch. Sometimes grumble under our breath at so-and-so as they let their dog do its business on our lawn--while we sat there! Other nights we would walk the block and discover where our neighbors lived, enjoy their yards and tell them that we liked their new flowers, or pet their dogs (even the ones we were previously miffed at for using our yard as a waste yard), or stand and talk a bit. I loved that block. I had an aunt and uncle next door, another set down the street, both complete with cousins. My kindergarten teacher lived behind us, with our backyards touching, but sometimes we could catch her outside too. She was always so nice. I had a "grandmother" on the block. (She was actually my cousin's grandmother, but we called her grandma too.) She had a pekinese and used to decorate cakes and invite us in to play often. There was a man and wife who lived on the corner. They had a life-sized doll house that resembled their house and sometimes they would let us come and play in it. There was an older couple a couple of houses down and we would play Parcheesi on their porch with their grand-daughter when she would come to visit. I think it was there that I discovered my favorite flowers where peonies, because their driveway was lined with them and they were always so huge and smelled wonderful.
Modern houses, especially those in the cookie cutter subdivisions, no longer possess front porches. Most have back decks with rails and fences for privacy. What a shame. To think of all of the opportunities to reach out to others that they miss. No "howdy neighbor" as they sit on the porch swing. No discussing the neighborhood yard sales. No checking in with elderly neighbors. No comments about the mouth-watering aromas of barbecue ribs cooking on the grill. No swapping plants. Do people even know their neighbors?
I've been threatening to write a coffee table book on some of my favorite porches that I pass by when walking in my mother-in-law's neighborhood. (Houses in my neighborhood fit the "modern" variety, including mine.) She lives in the historic district where houses and porches are unique and interesting. While on a walk just this week I took the photo below. I guess it goes to show that not all houses with a porch have friendly people or at least people who use their porch. But I will continue to romanticize about these comforting places and long for the day that I will once more have one of my very own.
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| Who could swing this way? House number has been omitted to protect the innocent. :) |
