True luxury is being able to own your time – to be able to take a walk, sit on your porch, read the paper, not take the call, not be compelled by obligation. ~Ashton Kutcher
Do you have a front porch? I grew up in a house with a front porch. We didn’t have chairs on it. That would have gotten in the way of our rollerskating fun. It was the only slab of concrete around and my sister and I rollerskated for miles and miles on it while dreaming of sidewalks and blacktopped lanes that we could skate on to who knows where.
But while we didn’t have anything on our porch for sitting, my grandfather’s house had a porch made for sitting and visiting awhile. This is a picture of it up top with my grandmother and aunt way before I was around to sit on the porch. But when I did get to be a little girl like my aunt in the picture, I enjoyed my times on that porch.
There was a swing on one end attached to the ceiling with chains that groaned a little as we eased it back and forth with our feet. On the other end, itchy vines grew up strings to shade a two-seater wooden porch rocker. My grandfather’s chair was a green metal one that had a spring to it when you sat in it. Then another of those two-seater wooden rockers. Plenty of places to take a rest.
I helped my aunt break beans and hull limas and peas on that porch. My grandfather always kept a flyswatter in his hand to kill any pesky fly in between his nodding off dozes. He was already well into his eighties when I remember him best. I wish I had known what to ask him so he’d tell me stories, but he wasn’t much for talking. A few neighbors dropped by from time to time to catch up on the neighborhood news. They did plenty of talking. I remember swinging and listening.
That porch is where I had my first case of extreme dog yearning love at around age eight or nine. My aunt took in a black Cockerspaniel that had been dropped on our road. Every day all summer I walked to her house to see that dog. He would get up beside me in that two-seater rocker and lay his head in my lap. I loved that dog and spent a lot of time on that front porch rubbing Inky’s ears.
Some years went by and my sisters and I got married and had some babies of our own. Then it was their time to do some front porch swinging with their grandmother. By then my mom and dad were living in the house where dad grew up.
My husband and I started our married life in the house where I grew up with that skating rink porch. Now my kids were riding their tricycles around it. After a few years there, we were able to build a new all modern conveniences house. It was ten times warmer in the winter than the old farmhouse. We didn’t have to draw water out of a cistern. We could just turn a faucet. We had wall to wall carpeting. There was something almost amazing about getting up in the morning without your feet hitting cold floors. The house had many good things, but there was no porch – front or back.
My husband, who moved around a lot as a kid, lived in some old farmhouses that had great porches. He’s always believed a house needs a porch. Or maybe that a man needs a porch to sit on to take a rest and watch the end of the day happening.
We still don’t have a porch, but eventually we did add on a front and back deck. The next best thing to a porch, I suppose. Not so good in the rain or extra hot sunshine, but still a place for a rocker and a glider. A place for a hummingbird feeder and a tinkling wind chime. A place for flowers. A place to see and dream about the leisure of sitting on a porch. Sometimes a place to sit and enjoy the last little bits of the day.
My daughter lives in an old house with a great front porch. Maybe because she remembered all the fun she had swinging on her granny’s porch when she was a little girl, she used some of her grandmother’s birthday money to her to buy her own swing for her porch. When her nieces and nephew visited it made a great picture taking place with her and her husband.
Then when I needed a cover for the audio version of Love Comes Home, I used her porch and swing.
I often notice front porches when I’m driving through some of the older neighborhoods and some of the newer ones too. The furniture looks comfy. The shade looks deep. The only thing missing are the people. Maybe they’re all sitting on their back porches. But I often wonder if we make our porches and our decks to match a dream of leisurely afternoons and then we never capture those precious hours for sitting and maybe reading a book or doing nothing but waiting for a neighbor to come calling to catch up on the news.
Do you love porches? Do you have a porch? If you do or ever had a porch, what are some of your front porch memories?
(Some of these front porch memories were part of an earlier post in 2012. New pictures and many new words.)
Comments 29
I always loved the fellowship on my granny’s porch and the old metal glider.
Author
I’m hearing that glider creak as you do some swinging, Lucy. Porches do seem so inviting and a great place for talking.
We had a front porch on the house I grew up in. It wasn’t real big, but was big enough for a glider swing and a couple of outdoor chairs. My family sat out there in the evenings and shelled peas, and strung and broke green beans. When company came to visit, and the weather wasn’t too hot, that’s where everyone would wind up at. We had to bring out the kitchen chairs for extra seats.
We have a front porch where I live now with a swing on it that my husband made. We very seldom sit out there now, mostly because of the bugs and mosquitos.
Author
I think we probably put up with the bugs and mosquitoes more when it was cool in the evenings on the porch and hot in the house during the hot summer months, Connie. Porches are a great place for getting those beans and peas ready to cook or can, for sure. And if you keep the company outdoors, your house doesn’t get as messed up. lol. It’s just fine to do some front porch visiting.
Grandma had a porch with a squeaky porch swing and two rocking chairs. Morning glory vines provided shade from the afternoon sun. We’d sit out there in the evening until the skeeters came out and chased us indoors. I remember many wonderful conversations and always waving at the neighbors passing on the road. It was also our favorite spot to eat watermelon and see who could spit the seeds the farthest. 🙂
Author
Great memories, Betty. I was a silly kid and thought I didn’t like watermelon. So I missed out on those watermelon seed spitting contests. But porches are a great place for some talking and visiting and watching what the neighbors are up to. LOL. The morning glory vines would make a nice shade, but being farmers, my grandparents probably couldn’t stand the thought of planting morning glories. They are pesky weeds out in the gardens or crops.
My grandma had a wrap-around porch at their farm. It was about 3 ft or so off the ground; there were steps up by the back door. I don’t remember any chairs or sitting on the porch, but us kids liked to climb up, run all the way around, jump off the other end, and do it all over again, time after time. In later years, after grandpa retired from farming, my brother hung a swing for them.
Author
Isn’t it interesting what kids can think is fun, Kathy? But I don’t have any trouble imagining how I would have ha fun doing that too. The end of our little porch had a high step off. My sisters and I used to worry we’d skate off it, but I don’t think we ever did. Guess we weren’t daredevils. LOL
I have a front porch but it’s not an old farm house. I like to sit on the front porch for my prayer time. The hummingbirds are so much fun to watch from there, too. Today 2 of them were doing a dance, maybe a tango, but when a third one flew in they reminded him that 3 was a crowd and chased him off.
I have a front porch but it’s not an old farm house. I like to sit on the front porch for my prayer time. The hummingbirds are so much fun to watch from there, too. Today 2 of them were doing a dance, maybe a tango, but when a third one flew in they reminded him that 3 was a crowd and chased him off.
Author
Front porches on any kind of house is a happy addition, Birdie. Over the years, we’ve talked about adding a porch, but it’s never happened. The decks were as close as we’ve come but they aren’t front porches. Hummingbirds are fun to watch. Sometimes they can be bullies by watching the feeder from a perch nearby and then chasing off any hummer that comes for a sip.
I love my many memories of front porch sitting and visiting.
Author
Good memories, Diana, even if you did have to swat at the mosquitoes from time to time. Of course, back in the day, most folks didn’t have air conditioning. So, sitting on the porch in the evening was a cool enjoyment.
We have a front porch with rockers, and I love sitting on it and watching the Hummingbirds at their feeder and then all of the other guest we get in the regular bird feeder. We will most likely be moving someday in the future and I would still want a front porch to sit on and always thought it would be a beautiful feature to have the blue painted ceiling on a large front porch. People don’t really have them in PA, but I see them on the house hunting shows a lot and love the idea of them.
Author
I hope you always have that porch to enjoy, Hope, no matter where you live. It is good to be sitting outside near the hummingbird feeders and hear their buzz as they zoom close by. The little fellows aren’t too worried about people in the area. I’ve always found the only time they’re really shy is when I’m trying to get a good picture of them. LOL. And the ceiling of the porch where I grew up was painted blue.
When I was a teenager, many years ago I would sit on my front porch and polish my white bucks or saddle oxfords every night so they would look good for school the next day. Years before that we would sit there and listen to the crickets and drink lemonade, Oh what memories.
Author
Those shoe took some polishing to keep looking great, Donna Jean. But if you did, they looked really sharp with those bobbysoxs. 🙂 And of for some fresh squeezed lemonade and a cricket concert. I’ll throw in a whippoorwill’s song and maybe a screech owl for good measure.
When I was a kid, I lived in an old farmhouse that had a porch, too. It makes me a little sad to see how rarely modern houses have such things. They were such a friendly and neighbourly feature on a home.
Author
Friendly and neighborly. That’s so true, Lydia. But I think television keeps people inside and off those porches even when houses do have them. Of course, nowadays, you can just take your entertainment with you with that phone in your hand.
What is it about a porch? I just had to have one too. The porch calls you out and ushers you in. It’s fun to dress it up and keep tidy. Somehow it’s welcoming and comforting and homey. Don’t sit out there enough though, especially in the summer, but when you don’t want to be found, go out to the porch. It’s takes them time to figure out where you went!
Author
I had to smile at you saying you could go out on the porch and have some alone time, Amy. Maybe that’s a big difference from the old days when a porch might have been the first place somebody would look.
And you are so right about a porch inviting somebody in and being homey and comforting. You’re making me wish I had a big old house with one of those wrap around porches. But guess I’ll make do with my deck and shade tree.
I have so many front porch memories, my grandparents on my moms side had a front porch that Pa would sit out on and there was an apple tree in his lower front yard,if the apples were ripe we could get them and he would peel them for us.He died when I was eight and Ma moved in with us but before that,I remember him on that front porch.
My other grandparents had a front porch and there were straight back chairs on it and when I was really little she had a porch swing. Ma,always planted flowers in front of the posts at the front of the porch,marigolds were my favorite that she planted.
After our house burned down when I was nine,Daddy and Mama built a house with a huge front porch.We has chairs and rockers out there and stayed out there a lot, we did a lot of visiting with friends and neighbors on that front porch.
Now, we have a front porch, we bought this house almost thirteen years ago and when we came around the road to look at it the first thing we talked about was how much we loved the porch. We spent lots of time out there year round, especially ,Spring ,Summer and Fall ,but I do occasionally take a throw and sit on my porch swing in the Winter and enjoy being outside. We visit with the neighbors out there , we read out there, and we watch our grandchildren and the neighbors children play on the tree swings from our front porch .
It’s safe to say,I love front porches.
Author
Sounds as if you know how to enjoy a porch, Lisa. Love reading your memories of good times on your granddad’s porch too and then on your parents’ porch when you were growing up. I do think we miss that front porch visiting of neighbors passing by. When I’m writing my Appalachian stories, I always want to build a porch onto those cabins my characters live in. A porch can be like an extra room and it seems to invite company.
Let’s go sit on the porch sounds like a fine way to share some good family time. You know that already. Thanks for sharing your front porch memories.
We had a small front porch growing up in Ohio. One of my favorite memories is sitting with my sister and dad on that porch watching storms come in , enjoying the smell of the rain and the pleasant binging of rain drops upon the roof. We watched and heard the power of the storm, safe and secure on our porch.
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You had me seeing those stroms come in and hearing the rain, Bonnie. I remember doing that back at our old farmhouse years ago. A porch is a great place to see the weather, and nothing like a tin roof to make a good sleeping time in a summer rain.
I’m fortunate to have a porch that runs across the front of my house, and sitting out there reading is absolutely my “happy place”! The only bad part is that I’d much rather be doing that than any of the not-so-happy things inside, like making sure my bills are paid, and balancing my checkbook! But I get those things done by promising myself that my reward will be time in my glider chair with a good book, so they do get done eventually. The view is wonderful too – I can see the highway that runs through our town, and the mountains beyond there, and when it snows, I can watch everything disappear!
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A porch with a comfortable place to read or just sit and enjoy the day does sound like a happy place and a blessing, Patricia. Reading beats balancing a checkbook any day. LOL. I enjoyed imagining your view of the mountains. Thanks for sharing your front porch blessings.
I used to live in an old farm house with a rap-around porch when my children were little. We broke many a green bean sitting on it. My children loved riding their tricycles around it. I had my first labor pain with my son breaking beans on that porch. I loved swinging in the swing and listening to the bob white’s calling their name over and over. I wish I still had a porch…I miss it.
Author
Front porches do somehow put us in mind of home, Pamela. I’m glad you have good memories of the porch on your farmhouse. Swinging and hearing the bob white’s call sounds great. The bob white quail have mostly disappeared in my area of Kentucky and I miss hearing them. When I was a kid, I loved whistling to try to copy their call and listen to them answer. At least, I thought they were answering me. 🙂