SoozieQ brought up an interesting point about the loss of front porches so maybe we could talk about that some more? It always interests me how something, simple in concept, can have far reaching consequences not thought out at all. Burning bacon in a teflon pan causes cancer but we eat it anyway!
I have no memory except from the movies and the illustrated jackets of Southern Novels about the great American Architecture found in the front porch. Certainly a style that must find its origins in the warmer climate of the Southern States where evenings were still warm and the scent of gardenias filled the air. Even in colder climates, all across this country, houses were built, sometimes with a total wrap around front porch.
These were big porches which allowed real furniture, comfortable chairs and couches, not the plastic stuff of today. Comfortable places inviting relaxation and conversation. An era of slower time where we might actually enjoy to sit a spell and "shoot the breeze".
Front porches could be cleaned with a quick sweeping or a garden hose, not like maybe having to do the whole house in a proper Spring cleaning to have company. Front porches invited spontaneity, neighbors could drop by and friendships created. All without a lot of effort, it was front porch conversation. A place where concerns and compassion could aspire and even a place where politics can be discussed!
Some idiot architect decided to wall in this area and increase the square footage of a home without thought to what it would mean! We lose a lot in our privacy, our isolation.
New construction offers no porches, in fact, no neighborhoods at all.
Another thing missing in new construction is attics. There will be no baseball card collections in the future. No wooden rocking horses, no baby's first shoes, no comic books saved and put away in the attic. We still buy this stuff out of habit but having no place to put it we toss it.
We are rapidly becoming a nation of apartment dwellers and that will have consequences too. It will change our psyche considerably when "home" can be left with a simple "30 day's notice".
I am always HERE
I have no memory except from the movies and the illustrated jackets of Southern Novels about the great American Architecture found in the front porch. Certainly a style that must find its origins in the warmer climate of the Southern States where evenings were still warm and the scent of gardenias filled the air. Even in colder climates, all across this country, houses were built, sometimes with a total wrap around front porch.
These were big porches which allowed real furniture, comfortable chairs and couches, not the plastic stuff of today. Comfortable places inviting relaxation and conversation. An era of slower time where we might actually enjoy to sit a spell and "shoot the breeze".
Front porches could be cleaned with a quick sweeping or a garden hose, not like maybe having to do the whole house in a proper Spring cleaning to have company. Front porches invited spontaneity, neighbors could drop by and friendships created. All without a lot of effort, it was front porch conversation. A place where concerns and compassion could aspire and even a place where politics can be discussed!
Some idiot architect decided to wall in this area and increase the square footage of a home without thought to what it would mean! We lose a lot in our privacy, our isolation.
New construction offers no porches, in fact, no neighborhoods at all.
Another thing missing in new construction is attics. There will be no baseball card collections in the future. No wooden rocking horses, no baby's first shoes, no comic books saved and put away in the attic. We still buy this stuff out of habit but having no place to put it we toss it.
We are rapidly becoming a nation of apartment dwellers and that will have consequences too. It will change our psyche considerably when "home" can be left with a simple "30 day's notice".
I am always HERE
