On The Porch

By Craig Ruhl

When I was a kid, back when the world was analog and not yet digital, we lived outside the house more than inside. I remember in the summer, I would leave the house right after breakfast, gather a few neighbor friends, and would not come home until I was hungry, hurt, or it was dinnertime. After dinner, I would go back out until the porch lights came on. Outdoors was the place to be and indoors was where you would be if you were being punished. Sure, thunderstorms and blizzards caused exceptions to be made, but only until Mom said the coast was clear and then it was back out in the world again. Once I was old enough to have a full-size two-wheeled bike, not only was I outside, but I was also gone – with a capital G.

The houses where I grew up had porches, front and back. You could tell where your friends were by the bikes resting in front of the porches. The back porches tended to be screened in to allow air flow on hot days and to keep the bugs out. The front porch had a different purpose. It was where the family would sit in the evenings or during the day on weekends. Neighbors would wave as they came and went, and there was a genuine sense of community. Women could stay home and be full-time mothers. It was not unusual to come home from school to see your mom and another or two sitting on the porch having coffee, tea, or a lemonade. For us kids out playing, it was also comforting to know that most homes had a mom who could help in an emergency. There were many rainy days when my friends and I would play games on the front porches while it rained. I remember a few summer nights that were so stifling hot that we slept on the porch where it was cooler. In the winter, we still played outdoors, but the front porch was more of a place to kick the snow off your boots and store the snow shovels and firewood. It also was a convenient place to hang Christmas lights and decorations.

Americans have viewed the porch as a symbol ever since the country was founded. The large antebellum homes of the 1700s and 1800s all had immense wrap around porches. Neighbors would come onto the porches to visit and share food and drink. Parties took place outside as well as in the home. Houses in the cities, often rows of them, had front stoops and stairs that served as porches. We lived life outside on the porch. Kids played in the street and adults gathered on the steps and porches to talk. Neighbors shared information and gossip on the front porch during the eras before the television, internet or even full telephone service. If you wanted to know what was going on, you needed to be outside and in conversation. During the summer, it was not unusual to see a family sitting there listening to a baseball game or mystery show on the radio. It was often just too hot to be inside. Communities had sidewalks where people out for a stroll could wave at neighbors sitting on their porch and even stop for a few minutes to exchange pleasantries or news. The porch was a buffer between public and private life. Folks could entertain out on the porch without inviting anyone inside the house. This made it easier to socialize without having to clean the house first.

After World War II, American values such as family, community, and nature seemed to change. The architecture of homes evolved, with the porch being less and less prominent. Indoor air conditioning also meant less time spent outdoors during hot summers. There wasn’t a need for the overhang above a porch to lessen the heat in the house. The increased use of automobiles meant less foot traffic past homes, and more noise and air pollution. Gradually, communities moved indoors after being centered outdoors for many generations. Now, we drive past some of the old neighborhoods with homes that have great porches, but we don’t see people sitting on them very often. A sign of the times.

On our frequent drives, we see so many homes that have beautiful porches with inviting wood rocking chairs on them. As we drive by, we wave every once in a while at someone sitting in front of their house. We don’t know them and they don’t know us, but it is fun to see how many wave back. I think that would be a good way to choose a neighborhood to live in.

The house we bought a few years ago is on a corner lot with a large patio/porch area.We quickly realized that sitting on the porch, we could see neighbors as they drove past on both the front street and the side street. We started waving and keeping track of which cars belonged to which houses. People slowed as they passed and waved back.

Karen’s studio office is in the front corner of our house with windows looking out at the corner and both streets. My desk is in front of a window, looking out onto the porch. We love the inside of our home, but we really love taking the breaks and sitting on the porch, waving to the neighbors and talking about how blessed we are to be in this home and in this neighborhood, town, state, and country. We are happy to help to bring back a sense of old-fashioned neighborhood to where we live.

So, if you are in the area and pass by, look for us. We are the couple on the porch who are waving at you even if we haven’t met yet. Please wave back or stop by and say hello. We’ll even leave the porch light on for Y’all.

(Previously published in Faith On Every Corner Magazine, May 2023 issue).

Craig Ruhl is the Managing Editor and Business Manager of Faith On Every Corner. He writes and edits articles for Faith On Every Corner magazine. Reading and writing have been his lifelong passions. After retiring from a career in business ownership and management, he now focuses his gifts and talents on spreading the good news of Jesus Christ through Faith On Every Corner. When not working, Craig enjoys road trips with his wife, Karen, and collecting and using fountain and dip pen collections.

Feature Image by Greg Waskovich from Pixabay