The front porch is about as Americana as anything. It defines a more peaceful time when family gathered and friends joined in for conversation in an early evening or a Sunday afternoon. “The Waltons” may come to mind. (Follow the link, and you will smile… I promise.)
Lemonade was sipped, and apple pie was served. A game of checkers might have even been played. Not many of the world’s problems were solved on these porches, if they were even talked about at all.
Maybe those are days gone by. Maybe they never existed. Maybe they are visions from commercials I remember as a youth. Regardless, I miss the front porch. And, truth be told, I never lived in a home that had one. By the 1970s and 1980s, homeowners opted for more privacy and started building decks in their back yards. My wife and I had what kind of resembled a porch at our house in Nebraska, but it was more decorative than useful. I don’t think we ever sat there. So how do you miss something you never had?
Tracy Lawrence had a hit country song in 1995 called “If The World Had A Front Porch.” You don’t have to like country music or have grown up on a gravel road to appreciate this song and the memories it invokes. Part of the chorus includes: “If the world had a front porch, like we did back then. We’d still have our problems, but we’d all be friends.”
He may be right. Those on the front porches in TV commercials looked happy. I am fairly certain that every Country Time Lemonade commercial featured a home with a beautiful front porch as part of their nostalgic efforts to remember the “old fashioned” days.
When I was in college, my friend Mark and I repaired and painted a front porch on an old country home. When we first looked at it, we asked each other why anyone would put any money into that old dump. The we replaced a bunch of boards. Added some new railings. And painted it all. By the end, that tattered terrace became a beautiful front porch that the family was able to use again. Our repairs made the homeowner smile, and we did, too.
Do you have a front porch on your home? Or did you have one growing up? What memories do you have from those times? Send me a note and let me know.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
