Oswego

May 19, 2002

Next: Travels in the heartland — Part 1

Porch sitting

I remember spending a lot of time as a kid with MaMa. I spent a lot of time over there. One time she said, “Well, let’s go sit on the porch.”

I said, “What are we gonna do?”

She looked at me kinda quizzically, and she said, “Well, we’re gonna greet passerby.”

I said, “And then what are we gonna do?”

She said, “We’ll wave.”

And she and my grandfather would sit and rock. He had his coffee can — he chewed tobacco — and he would spit, and rock and wave. And when a car would come, MaMa would kinda crane her neck a little and watch…and wave.

“I’d say, “MaMa, who was that?”

“I’m not sure, my sha.” (Creole for “dear”)

“Why did you wave?”

“Well, you always wave!”

Rose anne St. Romaiine, quoted in Swinging in Place: Porch Life in Southern Culture by Jocelyn Hazelwood Donlon

…porches and sidewalks hearken back to a time when everyone wasn’t bottled up inside behind closed doors in air-conditioned units watching TV in every room of the house. The porch is like an additional room, but one that faces the street and is open and inviting for friends and neighbors who once sat on stoops, or rocked in swings and chairs under a ceiling fan and talked way into the night, listening to leaves rustling occasionally and watching the fireflies flicker on and off in the darkness.

From my journal, written in August, 1998

One of the keenest pleasures of leisure time to me, mostly after work in the late afternoons, edging toward twilight, is to sit on the porch of the family house in old Charleston and rock away the minutes and hours, even, as the sun sets, the birds wind down their songfests, and the night sounds begin to emerge.

Porches are civilized. They make towns and neighborhoods come alive. I could endlessly look at pictures of porches. They are gateways to the soul of a house.

I have always loved porches, and I am saddened that they are to be found mostly on older houses built before the 1950s. Suburbia brought anonymity and isolation, compared to former times when neighbors knew each other well and congregated on steps, stoops and front porches for conversation, visiting, and refreshments. It is sad, this gradual decline in porch life over the last few decades.

In neo-traditional neighborhoods and new houses built in these subdivisions, the porch however is making a comeback. That is a happy development.

Our house in Charleston is a “single house,” which means the porch is actually on the side at the front, so I look out at the garden and not at the street, which I see only by looking off to my left at an angle. So, Charleston’s porches are more private and made for catching the breezes that are supposed to pass through the porch and on into the “single roooms” of the house. It’s a nice arrangement. And, truth be told, I really prefer this to the more exposed front porches. Still, I’d sort of like to sit out there with a glass of lemonade and wave to folks who pass on the sidewalk — as if they were neighbhors — even though they are visitors, tourists, and others not of the area. I didn’t grow up with the front porch tradition. But I know I would have liked it.

My fascination with porches goes back at least to my teen years and into college and afterwards. One of the first black and white photos I took and developed and printed in a darkroom was of a small porch and chair on the front of an old house in Sumter’s historic district, with a sign plainly visible, “Room for rent.” That was back in 1973. I delight in looking at all the big wrap-around porches on Victorian and Queen Ann houses from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Out on the Porch: An Evocation in Words and Pictures has been one of my favorite books ever since I discovered it more than ten years ago in a small bookshop in Edmonds, Washington.

It perfectly captures the moods, magic, and fun of porches.

Au Contraire!

May 20, 2002

Have you heard the song, If The World Had A Front Porch by Tracy Lawrence? :o) I’ve long been fascinated by the many front porches I see with chairs, sofas, &/or swings on them, and the people who sit out there and watch traffic & pedestrians pass by. I’m more of a back porch person myself…I prefer watching birds & critters, & listening to the windchimes & rain, than talking w/people.

AzureBloom

The friendly openness of front porches is precisely what drew me to buy my little bungalow, nestled in the midst of literally hundreds of other bungalows, all sporting porches of their own. The porch swing (a hand-made gift from an old friend) is my grandson’s favorite perch… I hope our swing-sessions will be remembered fondly.

A very comfortable entry. I love to sit on the porch swing with my dogs for company and watch the world go by. When I was little I would sit there with my grandmother and shell peas or snap beans. A nice memory.

Someday I will have a house, and it will have the most glorious porch where I can sit and watch the world go by…and invite it to stop by and rest awhile.

My grandma had a screened in porch where I loved to sit and chat with her. What a lovely package of memories your entry left on my doorstep today. Note to self: Build a front porch.

Edelweis

I like porches, but here in Europe we have not the same tradition on it as in your country. The system of buildings is so different…and most of our houses are stone (brick) houses. But many houses, even the new ones have porches in the backside. In Switserland, most of the houses are of wood, and have these wonderful front porches full with flowers! I remember when I was little that people sat

outside, on the stoop in their chairs and talked till late in the evening. Now, people…neighbors hardly know each other. The pictures are so beautiful, and the book is a treasure I think! Reading your entry has a calming effect. I think that’s also what porches do if sitting there, look at the world, rock and enjoy the quietness of nature and a nice garden with maybe a fountain! Take care!!

Shi

I really like that answer, Well, you always wave…

By the way, I’d like to thank you for the fantastic supportive and encouraging notes you sent the other day. You are a mentor of sorts and I always smile when I see your screen name in bold and/or when I see a note from you. Thank you for all you’ve given to this community and to me. You are one of the great ones and I appreciate you so so so much.

Sago

May 21, 2002

yes to porches–one was on our have to have list when we shopped for a new home

zhnee

Enjoyed this entry. I used to sit with my grandmother on the porch while she shelled peas – this was in the country though and I’d watch cars pass down on the highway. In the evening the porch is much cooler than inside. Lately, when I come in from school on Thursdays the woman who watches Z has coffee made and we sit on her porch in town and drink coffee. We decided that we would miss the

“porch sitting” and we would have to get together still. Last Thursday, I went by with coffee cake and we sat and talked “plants and stuff.”

Oh, ryn: I CAN use the one hand pecking at the keys approach–no fear. Off to NYC for a long weekend this TH.

Great entry. I remember when all porches had a wooden porch swing hooked by chains to the ceiling of the porch, and every house had a porch. I spent many happy hours porch sitting during my younger years. I don’t know about your area, but here, the newer developments don’t even have sidewalks anymore. That makes me sad that the public sidewalks are getting to be a thing of the past.

My porch looks out onto my garden. I can just glimpse at the top of my neighbor’s double-storey house. Other than that, all I can see are the horses in thief paddock – if they come to the gate in hopes of being let out, or else the chickens – looking for food, or our resident ‘ dikkops’ squawking to protect thief eggs. There are no passers-by. I call it tranquility!

forever in motion

May 26, 2002

I remember those “single house” porches well from my excellent tour guide while in Charleston 🙂 And somewhere back in my diary I have a set of porch pictures from various trips. I adore porches. (You have a road trip coming up, don’t you? Soon? Summer? Fall?)

I love porches or in this country we call them verandas. Sitting on an old rocker or swing evoking peace or a quite chat with a friend is such a lovely thing to do.

Doodlebug

May 27, 2002

Our house has a back and front porch. I wish the porch wrapped around. I, too, love porches. A fond memory comes to mind—sitting on the front porch @ my cousin’s house in Atlanta. A beautiful historical neighborhood that has since become dangerous to visit. But that porch glider. The cars going by. Who’s riding in them? The mystery of it all. Where are they going?

I’ve missed your entries and hope that you’re all right.

My friend … whoo hoo – where are you?? Kirsti

June 2, 2002

Where are you? You doin’ okay?