Front Porches

I have always loved a front porch. This is the front porch on which I spent much of my time when I was a child. It's not very large, but it held, for me and my imagination, all kinds of pleasure. I could cuddle up in one corner, spread out a baby blanket and pretend I was having a picnic. I could also sit in that corner with my Lincoln Logs or my Bricks and build houses. I could sit on a chair in another part of the porch and read.

The porch was my favorite place. It was always cool in the summer, even on the hottest days. I was protected in the winter from ice and snow, and even though it was cold, it was a place to play without having to get snow in my boots.

The front walk was always the walk down "the aisle" when I played "Here Comes the Bride."

My first purchased home (the first house my husband and I bought) had a wide porch -- really very large. My children and I played out there a lot, and we watched thunder storms from the porch. We read books on the porch. It, too, was cool in the summer, and a place for the children to play outside in the winter.

The next home, the place in which we lived for almost 30 years had no porch at all. It had a large step in the front, and I could put a chair on the step and "pretend" I had a front porch, but alas, that was not the same. In the back, there was a larger step -- a patio waiting to happen? I would sit out there as well -- that's where deer would come close and almost eat out of the palm of my hand. But it wasn't a front porch.

Now, in my final home before I leave this earth -- I've determined that I'm never moving again -- I have a porch -- a veranda -- a lanai -- a sun room -- a deck -- a patio -- I don't care what anybody calls it -- it's a porch and even with our winter fully upon us, I can sit out there and read or scrapbook or just close my eyes and recall what it was like to be young and have a front porch.