Our Front Porch

I was recently looking through some magazines for some unique and interesting quotes. My daughter loves quotes and has them hung all around her room. She turns 18 later this week and thought I would find something special. I found one that simply said “Welcome to Our Porch”. It was just a standard white wood sign with the writing in brown. I’m not sure why this stuck with me so but it did.

It got me thinking about what that simple saying meant to me. Growing up we didn’t have a front porch, at least not one that more than 3 people could sit on but we did have a car porch on the side of the house. In the winter, this is where we would park the car but in the summer it was transformed into an outdoor living space. Not fancy by any means. We had a picnic table, our bikes in one corner and lots of chairs. You know, those metal chairs that had the woven webbing of various colors that left crisscross patterns on your legs when you got up.

Anyway, this side porch was where my parents could be found reading the paper on the weekends drinking their coffee or where a game was set up on the picnic table waiting for my sisters and I along with the neighborhood kids to return from a bike ride. It also saw birthday parties, family cookouts and neighbor’s chats. It was a place of shade from the sun, friendship, fun and family.

I always thought it would be neat to buy a house with a big wrap around porch but the closest I have come to that is the front porch on our store. One of my favorite things in the spring is to get out on the porch, knock down the cobwebs, plant flowers in the window boxes and in front of the store, sweep and get the six rocking chairs ready for rocking. It is a favorite spot of customers to go and sit while the rest of their party is still shopping. It is from these rocking chairs that you can experience a gorgeous view of the far off Blue Mountains, lush green farm land, beautiful blue skies and cotton ball clouds. There always seems to be a gentle (and sometimes blow you away) breeze so that it isn’t too unbearable to sit while the temperatures rise. It is also where neighbors and friends run into each other or family meet up to go shopping. It is a quiet place here on the farm except for the birds calling to one another or sometimes the sound of a tractor getting ready to go to work.

As I was looking around for some other things about front porches, I ran across this ~

The front porch was known more in “its day” as a place of sanctuary to make time to sit back and relax, to be quiet and have time for contemplation, to be closer to nature, and to be closer to family, friends and other people of the community -Cheryl Perrault

So the next time you are in our area, I would be happy to welcome you to our front porch for a little relaxation and quiet time (and maybe you’d also want to come in and see what unique things we do with our gourds).