The Front Porch

One of the many things I love about grand old houses is the front porch. I love driving in older sections of the city just to see the beautiful homes there. Most of them have a huge front porch or veranda. I can almost see the lumber baron (most of the beautiful old homes in my city were built by lumber barons) and his family sitting on a Sunday afternoon enjoying tea and lemonade and visiting with people walking by on the street. Front porches conger up images an era long gone. Some more modern homes also have front verandas and their occupants use them a lot. I know a couple who own a thirty-year old house with a small front porch. They have a bistro table and a couple chairs on it and often sit there and enjoy their coffee. The first time I sat on the front porch with my friend, I felt transported back in time where life was a little slower and neighbors looked out for each other. As my friend and I sat and visited, neighbors passed by and stopped to talk . He knew the names of all the kids in his neighborhood and of all his neighbors. He said he met most of them while sitting on his front porch! Compare that to my house with its back deck where the only people you ever see might be your "across the back"neighbor. I think every house should have a front porch so that we truly become neighborhoods again and know and take care of each other. Front porches and vibrant neighborhoods . . . it's a good thing!