Although we did not have a wooden screen door-
We had a porch where we could sit and watch the world go by on our main street house.
Our little town is called Eldred.
Had a main highway for a main street, and it went right by my front bedroom.
Often at night –
I would fall asleep with the window opened and one of those sliding screens in place.
The traffic would slow down after dark –
But it still was the main way to come-
From NYS to PA. and beyond.
My mother, after she was older –
And lost her second husband to heart problems-
My own father died of cancer when I was nineteen –
She would sit on that porch every day in good weather.
Folks would drive by and honk their horns –
And yell a “HELLO MARY” as they went by after rolling down their car windows!
That front porch –
I had countless times of sleeping out with friends –
I had an old Korean War sleeping bag that belonged to my brother-in-law Bill.
It was not warm and had no padding!
Pa., back there was cool in the evenings-
A dense fog would roll up and over the railroad tracks from the Alleghany River!
The grass was always wet in the mornings,
And the sleeping bag was damp with moisture.
We had and still do a 10 o’clock curfew –
All kids off the streets.
Part of sleeping out was raiding the many gardens all over town.
Eating apples from the trees.
Upon the hill, across the street from our house-
Was a hill covered in blueberries!
Summertimes – we would take broken down large cardboard boxes and slide down that hill!
That porch has held its secret for countless years of the conversations that were said there.
Now today –
A new front porch of our own.
A place I go to sit and wave or greet neighbors going by.
No screen door – no childhood memories here.
No curfew – no sleeping out at night.
Still, a bedroom for guests sits right there.
Now we have Deer alerts with motion detectors.
They go off when the deer approach the flowers.
They also go off if it is windy or if someone is walking by on the road in the dark. LOL
This front porch is what I wanted when we selected the model for our home.
I guess it might reflect back to my youth.
All those years ago –
And now today aging to our 80s.
Both were raised in small towns with COUNTRY all around.
For me, today is having that place where I am comfortable-
Waving and saying hello to those passing by.
FRONT PORCHES have a way of doing that to me.
Thanks for reading –
PAPA’S WORLD-
My site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog
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