|
???Porch Sittin??™ ???
???What are you doing???? I asked Willie as I passed by his
house on my way home.
???Awwww I??™m just doin??™ some porch sittin??? he replied as he
swung back and forth ever so slightly on his porch swing.
As a child, I would often see Willie out on his porch. He
was an older man who still worked hard around his place but
he often took time off for some ???porch sittin??™???.
???I got the radio on and the Cardinals will be playing ball
here in a minute if you want to sit a spell,??? Willie said as
he scooted over on the swing and patted the seat next to him
as he adjusted the volume on the radio.
It was summertime and many other scenes such as the one I
mention above took place everyday where I grew up. ???Porch
sittin??? was a common activity. Nearly everyone had a porch
with a wooden swing that hung down from chains that were
held by hooks on the porch ceiling. Most swings held two or
three people and if neighbors showed up to sit a spell then
more chairs would be brought out from inside the house. The
younger folks might sit on the porch steps while children
played in the yard or found a tree to climb.
The porch was like an extension of the living room because
it was cooler out on the porch when the summer??™s heat became
uncomfortable. There wasn??™t air conditioning so houses were
often built so that they were situated where the breeze
would waft across the porch and there was a roof that
protected porch sitters from the sun and rain. Essentially,
all the work that could possibly be done outdoors was
transported to the porch where it was cooler and it seemed
to make the job more enjoyable just by being outside in
nature??™s living room.
It seems like a lot of living took place on porches in times
past. At least it was that way where I grew up. Seeing a
person sitting on their front porch was pretty much the same
as an invitation for neighbors to stop by and pass the time
of day.
Many people did part of their garden work on their porches.
It didn??™t matter if it was snapping beans, hulling peas, or
peeling apples someone was apt to sit down beside you and
give you a hand with the chore.
I remember a lot of visiting, discussions, and even problems
solved while snapping green beans. Women learned from one
another and often offered help for whatever need that was
mentioned. ???Try using a little corn starch on that baby??™s
diaper rash,??? a young mother might learn from an older
neighbor lady, ???And next time you need to work out in the
garden, just bring that little one over here and I??™ll watch
him, I kind of miss having a baby around,??? the neighbor
might say.
Those were good times when porches were used for many
things. Women did needle work or rocked babies, men
whittled or fixed things, and children played ???pretend???.
Sometimes the porch was used to just get off alone for a
time and read, meditate, or just do some
thinking??¦???woolgathering??? Momma used to call it.
Even if the sun wasn??™t shining, there was nothing quite like
the sound of rain on the porch roof. It was such a secure
feeling and a perfect time to curl up on the porch swing
with a quilt and a good book and listen to the soft
pattering of the raindrops.
The summer nights were also very good for ???porch sittin???.
We made friends with the night sky as we enjoyed God??™s
creation. As a child I learned about stars and
constellations from my parents. I learned how to identify
the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and then identify the
North Star and the Milky Way.
There were all the different night sounds that were a little
frightening at first until Momma explained the howling of
the coyotes, the loud noise of the bullfrog, and the calls
of hoot owls and whippoorwills. We also watched the
mysterious twinkling lightning bugs flit around in the
dark. A permanent picture is engraved in my mind of my
mother standing in a long white nightgown, arms outstretched
above her, as she caught lightning bugs in a jar for me one
hot summer??™s night.
Occasionally, when summer nights didn??™t cool off enough to
be comfortable for sleeping, some folks would sleep outside
on their porches. My girlfriends and I thought that
sleeping on the porch was a great adventure, except for that
one time when the cat decided to bring us a gift and we woke
up to find half of a mouse upon our quilt!
In later years, my parents enclosed our front porch for an
extra room. I hated to see the porch closed in but I was
glad when my parents simply moved the old porch swing and
hung it from the huge old maple tree where the family still
gathered. Daddy and my brother would often sit out there
under that tree and play their guitars, usually with a dog
or two stretched out beneath their feet as they played one
more chorus of ???Just A Closer Walk With Thee.???
I have always loved porch swings. After I was grown and
married, the one thing that sold me on the house that we
bought was the swing on the back porch that overlooked a
pond.
I??™m glad to see that some houses being built today are going
back to adding porches. Yet, it isn??™t the porches, it??™s the
people that make the difference. As I drive through
neighborhoods these days I sometimes wonder, ???Where are all
the people? Are they all at Wal-Mart or inside watching
television???? If so, they are missing out on a lot.
Why not shoo the kids outside and take a little time out for
some ???porch sittin???? Take something along to read or work
on if you like but there??™s nothing wrong with just sitting
and doing nothing because it really isn??™t doing nothing,
it??™s ???porch sittin???. If practiced enough, you can become an
expert at it.
It seems like ???porch sittin??? is nearly a lost art. Perhaps
we can still revive it. If you don??™t have a porch, don??™t
worry, a chair out under a shade tree will do. I don??™t have
a porch like I once had either but I have a great
imagination and all of God??™s creation is still right there
to enjoy.
Well,
it??™s been a long day so I think I??™ll go outside for a spell
because it??™s just about ???porch sittin??? time.
By
Pamela Perry Blaine
?© June 2005
Pam lives in
Missouri with her husband, Michael. She enjoys composing
music and writing stories. She writes "Pam's Corner" for
her local newspaper, The Edina Sentinel. Pam and her
husband are active in their church where she plays piano and
he is music leader. They have a CD available called, "I'll
Walk You Home". The title song is about her lifelong
friend who died of cancer. You can hear this song on her
website: http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
Several of her stories have been published on the internet
as well as in books such as The Miracle Of Sons,
2The Heart/People Who Make A Difference, and A
Tribute To Moms. Her goal is to write to encourage
others and to write stories for her children and
grandchildren so that stories and family history will be
preserved.
My Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail:
pamyblaine@blaines.us
)
??.?·?? ??.?·????) ??.?·*??)
(
??.?·?? (??.?·?? ??.?·??
`?·-?»Pamy
"Security is not the absence of danger,
but
the presence of God"
My
Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail:
pamyblaine@blaines.us
"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
WHO
LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE"
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/englishkgp/default.htm
|
