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Left on the Front Porch
I believe porches are an expression of who we are as a people; a visible symbol of our culture and lifestyle. A porch is a covered extension of a home and among other things probably evolved as a place to "catch a breeze" on a hot July or August day. But a porch with comfortable rocking chairs, padded wicker, inviting porch swings and sometimes a hammock says, "Y'all come on in." Hospitality is one of the major attributes of Southern culture; and the expression "Southern Hospitality" was once commonly heard. A family or a person sitting on the porch was an invitation to stop in and chat a moment. Believe it or not, there was a time when people in our region didn't feel the necessity to call before coming to visit their neighbor. The front porch was the setting for good conversation and iced tea (sweet, of course) as the swing chain creaked and rockers kept up a slow, lazy thump on a wood floor. But we don't have front porch conversation anymore. We've left it there, on the front porch. Before air conditioning, families would go to the front porch after supper to converse and wait for the air to cool down before going to bed. I recall so well sitting in the dark on my grandmother's front porch, listening to the familiar summer sound the locusts made. This is where I heard so many family stories from the past. There is something comforting in knowing that you are part of a long chain of people reaching back to the settling of the state; this kind of conversation gives one, especially a child, a sense of belonging, of being a part of something. Sometimes, I would ask a question about what one of the adults said. But I didn't ask enough questions. There are so many things I wished I'd asked, now that it's my turn to pass down family stories. There can be no sharing of family stories with a T.V. blaring until bedtime. The front porch, symbol of hospitality and neighborliness was actually the family den where conversation and laughter reined instead of Roseann and Oprah, etc. But we've left our family stories there on the front porch. It is too hot; the mosquitoes are too bad; we've got too many things to do to sit on the porch. The rockers and the wicker are still there.......but they're never disturbed except to sweep. So we sit in our air conditioned houses and see our neighbors at Wal-Mart and our unique family stories, if not passed on, will be lost forever.
Today the only things left on front porches are put there by FedEx and UPS.
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