Front Porches

If you watch the news you can't help but be concerned over the troubles America faces today: increase in violent crime, the disintegration of the family, and the deterioration of moral values, just to name a few. Many politicians and concerned citizens groups have spent countless hours and resource trying to fix the woes of America and have failed. But I've come up with a simple solution.

After giving the matter some serious thought (yes, though it's hard to believe, I do have serious thoughts from time to time--usually while I'm in some delirium) I've stumbled upon the cure for what ails America. Porches.

That's right, porches. Now, I'm not talking about just any old porch and certainly not one of those dinky little backyard stoops. No, I'm talking about those grand front porches of yesteryear. Remember them?

The front porch had a huge wooden deck big enough to hold the whole family and a few guests. It was surrounded by a wooden railing and usually had a couple of steps leading down to the front yard. It had a roof that hovered overhead to keep the elements of the weather at bay, and sometimes it was even screened in to keep the bugs out. For sure, when we began building houses without those stately front porches we began building the foundation for society's ruin.

When there were front porches there was no need for a family to schedule a special night of the week just to be together. The porch had a mystical way of drawing family to it. On a warm summer evening you'd find Grandma in here rocker, Momma and Daddy in the glider, and a couple of kids on the front porch swing. The rest of the clan would be seated on a bench or stretched out on the floor while someone played a guitar or a harmonica and an old fashion sing-along was held.

Sometimes everyone, young and old alike, spontaneously gathered on the front porch just to talk. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and neighbors would tell stories of the "old days." Sometimes those stories had moral anecdotes, sometimes they were just fun historical notes. Either way, the youngsters listened intently, focused on every word.

The front porch was a place where people really did listened to each other, where mammas, snapping green beans from the garden, sat with their children, giving an ear to each youngster as she helped them find solutions to the many trials of youth. It was a place where people relaxed and meditated,where the stresses and worries of life seemed to flutter away on the wings of a zephr.

Many a romance blossomed on the front porch. Two adolescents would sit in the swing, holding hands, talking of love, life, and the concerns of youth, while Momma and Daddy lingered inside the house, peaking through the screened window, making sure nothing improper was going on.

Many young men went home frustrated at the end of a date because the girl's parents left the porch light on to discourage him from kissing their daughter good night. And a daughter returning home tardy from a date could expect to be embarrassed by her father, waiting for her on the front porch, clad in his bathrobe.

Manners, too, were taught on that front porch of long ago. It's where children were taught to say "hi" to passersby, whether they new them or not, and the passersby answered back with a kind word or a smile and a wave.

Children learned to be patient and wait their turns for their portion of dessert when family and friends gathered on the front porch in the summer to make homemade ice cream. And kids learned to be good sports there too as they played board games, hide and seek, or jacks and the like. In short, it was the hub of the family, the neighborhood, and society itself.

Yes, the front porch once played a positive role in society, and if we are going to solve our country's ills we should get back to building and using those magnificent front porches of the past. Now, is there anyone out there who will let me borrow their front porch for a few hours? Some friends dropped by and we're just itching to make homemade ice cream and hold a group sing-along. Oh, and do you also have an ice cream maker and a guitar we could use?