The Front Porch

Have you ever lived in an older city? By which I mean a city that has been established for quite some time. Anderson, SC (where Kari and I currently live) was founded in 1826 and I would consider Anderson, at least the original Anderson, an older city. Cities that have been around since the 1800s are different than the more modern cities we live in today.

The streets are different. The shops are different. The homes are different. The way they are put together suggest a different way of life. I always find it interesting to take a walk through the older parts of Anderson. You get a feeling for the way things used to be. What do I mean by that?

The biggest difference in the layout of homes in old Anderson and the newer parts are the front porches. In the older parts of Anderson all of the houses have front porches with walkways extending out a short distance to the side walks running the streets. You can just imagine a time when people walked everywhere they went. You can envision a time when people came calling on these homes and were invited to sit there on the front porch and pass the time talking. The pace of life was much slower. People took more time to talk to one another. Your neighbor wasn't someone you avoided making eye contact with on the way from your car to your door, but someone you trusted and cherished.

Today our homes are entered from the back or from garages. The fronts of our homes are uninviting. The pace is much faster and we don't have time to pass the day in pleasant company. Anymore, if we have porches they are hidden away in the back and rarely used to entertain guests.

So here we come to it, my ironic attempt to reclaim the past. This blog will be my virtual porch. Here I would like to share some of my thoughts with you, my guest. Don't be shy. Come on up the walkway, sit down, sip some tea and lets talk. Welcome, to the Front Porch.