Country Living:
Porch Sittin' is a lost pastime.....
Porch Sittin' is a lost pastime.....
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There’s nothing like being able to sit out on your porch in the cool of the day; watch the sun set;
see the young’uns chase lightenin’ bugs; and, of course, swat mosquitoes.
Porch sittin’ is different from patio sittin’ or deck sittin’. Patio and deck sittin’ are usually private
affairs done at the back of the house. Porch sittin’ is a public event done up front where you can
see and be seen. You can wave at your neighbors and they can wave back. Sure you can have
company on your patio or deck, but that’s invited company, planned company. That’s different
from drop-in porch sittin’ company.
Front porches have long been the neighborhood meeting places. You go for a walk, you spy
your neighbor porch sittin’, and you pause. Now you can approach the porch and be offered a
chance to sit a spell. That’s real nice if you’re hot and tired. The chance to “sit a spell” gives y’all
a chance to swap gossip. If you don’t have an hour (or longer) to kill, then you may choose to
stay at the road and still swap pleasantries. You have to raise your voice a little, and everyone for
the length of the street in each direction can hear the conversation, but it’s easier to walk away
when you need to go.
Before we go any further, it is important to state that according to Missouri men, women swap
gossip and men swap yarns. After having overheard some of their yarns, let me say that men
swap gossip also.
Now visiting with your neighbors is harder in the country, but it can be done while porch sittin’.
Nowadays in the country, drivers will honk when they see you porch sittin’. That’s their way of
saying “howdy” without stopping. Some will roll the window down and wave also. These are the
folks who are willing to brave the dust of a gravel road just to say hello.
The best furniture for porch sittin’ is a swing or a rocker. The gentle movement of each stirs the
air and has a cooling effect without actually having to fan yourself. Comfortable wicker furniture
is also good. The right furniture makes curling up with a good book or writing a letter to your
cousin a pleasant way to spend time on the porch. A glass of cold ice tea can complete the
setting, but if you really plan to spend some time reading or writing while porch sittin’, make it a
pitcher of tea instead. Even if you live on a plastic furniture income and prop your feet on a
swiped milk crate from the local quick stop, you can enjoy porch sittin’.
In the past, porch sittin’ in also served another purpose. This was a time to shell peas, shuck
corn, or any number of other jobs that had to been done and just didn’t seem quite as much like
work when done on the porch. If you were lucky, someone might stop by, and, for the price of a
pleasant conversation, help shell peas.
But those days are passing. There’re several factors that have helped bring about the demise of
porch sittin’. One, we don’t build houses with porches anymore. If the house has one, then the
porch is so small that any chairs on it are there for looks not sittin’. Another factor is air
conditioning. It gets harder and harder to give up the cool of indoors for the privilege of sitting
and sweating on the front porch. A third one is television. For some strange reason it is more fun
to gather together to watch people shoot someone than to gather together to share our lives, our
experiences, and our dreams with each other.
see the young’uns chase lightenin’ bugs; and, of course, swat mosquitoes.
Porch sittin’ is different from patio sittin’ or deck sittin’. Patio and deck sittin’ are usually private
affairs done at the back of the house. Porch sittin’ is a public event done up front where you can
see and be seen. You can wave at your neighbors and they can wave back. Sure you can have
company on your patio or deck, but that’s invited company, planned company. That’s different
from drop-in porch sittin’ company.
Front porches have long been the neighborhood meeting places. You go for a walk, you spy
your neighbor porch sittin’, and you pause. Now you can approach the porch and be offered a
chance to sit a spell. That’s real nice if you’re hot and tired. The chance to “sit a spell” gives y’all
a chance to swap gossip. If you don’t have an hour (or longer) to kill, then you may choose to
stay at the road and still swap pleasantries. You have to raise your voice a little, and everyone for
the length of the street in each direction can hear the conversation, but it’s easier to walk away
when you need to go.
Before we go any further, it is important to state that according to Missouri men, women swap
gossip and men swap yarns. After having overheard some of their yarns, let me say that men
swap gossip also.
Now visiting with your neighbors is harder in the country, but it can be done while porch sittin’.
Nowadays in the country, drivers will honk when they see you porch sittin’. That’s their way of
saying “howdy” without stopping. Some will roll the window down and wave also. These are the
folks who are willing to brave the dust of a gravel road just to say hello.
The best furniture for porch sittin’ is a swing or a rocker. The gentle movement of each stirs the
air and has a cooling effect without actually having to fan yourself. Comfortable wicker furniture
is also good. The right furniture makes curling up with a good book or writing a letter to your
cousin a pleasant way to spend time on the porch. A glass of cold ice tea can complete the
setting, but if you really plan to spend some time reading or writing while porch sittin’, make it a
pitcher of tea instead. Even if you live on a plastic furniture income and prop your feet on a
swiped milk crate from the local quick stop, you can enjoy porch sittin’.
In the past, porch sittin’ in also served another purpose. This was a time to shell peas, shuck
corn, or any number of other jobs that had to been done and just didn’t seem quite as much like
work when done on the porch. If you were lucky, someone might stop by, and, for the price of a
pleasant conversation, help shell peas.
But those days are passing. There’re several factors that have helped bring about the demise of
porch sittin’. One, we don’t build houses with porches anymore. If the house has one, then the
porch is so small that any chairs on it are there for looks not sittin’. Another factor is air
conditioning. It gets harder and harder to give up the cool of indoors for the privilege of sitting
and sweating on the front porch. A third one is television. For some strange reason it is more fun
to gather together to watch people shoot someone than to gather together to share our lives, our
experiences, and our dreams with each other.
Stories and
recipes from
Amish and
Mennonite
communities
across the
country.
recipes from
Amish and
Mennonite
communities
across the
country.
People and families in Amish life
throughout the American Midwest.
throughout the American Midwest.
This is about the whole back-to-the-land movement,
home schooling, compost bins, food
preparation without electricity, bread making, home
construction, stonework, off-grid living,
and tons of other useful information for the modern
homesteader.
There are even sections on the spirituality of
homesteading, with thoughts by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Thoreau, quotes by Emily Dickinson,
knowledge from Helen and Scott Nearing,
and others.
home schooling, compost bins, food
preparation without electricity, bread making, home
construction, stonework, off-grid living,
and tons of other useful information for the modern
homesteader.
There are even sections on the spirituality of
homesteading, with thoughts by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Thoreau, quotes by Emily Dickinson,
knowledge from Helen and Scott Nearing,
and others.
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Richard Proenneke in One Man's Wilderness
