Front porches and porch parties

There was a column in the newspaper this morning about porch parties--it mentioned two or three U. S. presidents who liked their porches, then some well-known society figures in Fort Worth--and then my front porch. It came about because a friend who does marketing for the newspaper commented on my porch, and when I said I often had parties, large and small there, she said, "That's a good story--porch parties. Tell . . . "and she named a mutual friend who is a columnist. As it happened I was having breakfast with the columnist the next morning and did mention it, but she brushed it off, saying, 'I don't get to do that kind of story any more." But just before we parted to go our ways to work, she asked me some questions about my porch . . . and then there came a whole column on porch parties, all of them porches in sheltered back yards, except mine which is a partially roofed front porch.
Mine is an old house--built in 1922, in the days before pools and patios in fenced back yards walled neighbors off from each other. People sat on their porches of an evening, and neighbors taking a stroll often stopped to visit. It was one of the points I made that showed up in the column. But I thought about it again tonight. We had a rainy day--after a series of terribly humid hot days--and the rain must have brought a breeze, because it was lovely on the porch. I took a book, a bit of wine, and went out to enjoy it. Pretty soon my neighbor to the east came by, walking her dog, and came up to visit. Then her children joined her. They were on their way to visit friends, and we chatted a bit. They left, and I went back to the book--but not for long. My neighbor from the other side came up carrying a beer--his wife is out of town and he was at loose ends. So we sat and had a lovely visit. I promised to call him if I really do cook the pot of barbecue I intend to this weekend. It was after eight when I went inside to get to work, but when I did it was a nice, happy feeling.
The thing about front porches is that they give you a sense of community. I would not know either of these neighbors except to wave if it weren't for my front porch where I sit so often. And yes, I do give dinner parties, large and small, whenever the weather's good enough Sometimes I've had people for a porch dinner in December, and when a cool breeze bloows in the summer--aided by the ceilng fan the kids gave me--it's a wonderful place to be. My neighborhood has lots of huge old trees, and sitting there I feel like I'm in a world of green. Sometimes, alone, it's hard to concentrate on my book, because I want to look around at the trees and enjoy the sight.
Yeah, I didn't get a lot done tonight. But I'm reading Louisa May Alcott's Hospital Sketches for the online class--and I'd forgotten how witty Alcott is.