A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Doll on the Front Porch and Memories

Daughter's porch in Wisconsin. It's a deck looking out to the lake. A restful spot for our family.
My little front porch is a special place. I have written about it before...how it wasn't used for the first couple of years, but now it is a favorite place to sit. I fixed it up with quilts, cushions, tables, chairs, and a plant stand. I have an old glass jar that I filled with white Christmas lights...turned on, it looks so pretty at night. My small garden is right next to the porch. We can look at the flowers, watch the hummingbirds and see what is going on around our neighborhood. I can remember my Grandma, sitting on her porch, when I was growing up. She watched and watched...it was a favorite pastime for her. It does appeal to older people, because we like to see what young people are up to. New bikes, roller blades, kids running, and in our neighborhood....golf cart parades. My little neighbor girl comes over, whenever she sees us outside. She makes herself at home...sometimes sitting between us, I have a big doll that sits in one of the chairs. He is a "pouting kid" no face and he kneels on his legs. She loves this thing. Wants to take off his clothes and put them on again.She loves him and scolds him...sounding, I'm sure, like her Mother. She takes all the quilts and throws, lays him on the bench and covers him, before she goes home. He is fixed for the night. The other night, Joe, went out on the porch to sit for a bit. It was late and very dark. He went to sit on the bench and jumped up....he said that he thought someone was there. It was just the doll, with all his covers. Gave Joe a scare for just a moment. A porch can be a restful place...even just a stoop, like our old house after the war. My Mom painted the little stoop and put those metal chairs that would rock and tip over. They were yellow. She bought a lemonade set in yellow to go with her tiny porch. At night, during those hot summers in the 50's, you would find her out there sipping lemonade and watching the neighborhood. She is gone now, but yesterday was her birthday. I looked in the mirror this morning and saw a glimpse of her. I think I will go have coffee on my little porch.
Balisha

10 comments:

ellen said...

I love this story of your front porch. Alas..I do not have one now. I grew up in a big old house with a curving porch. Oh, the memories.
Isn't it a gift to look in the mirror and see a glimpse of a mother there? My mother becomes a stronger presence for me with each passing year, even though she's been gone for over thirty years.

Anonymous said...

Front porches always bring back happy memories of sitting on my Great Aunt's porch every summer with a glass of something cold to drink and playing checkers with my brother. :)

MILLIE said...

My grandparents sat on a front porch in rockers, and of course the porch swing on a summer evening. Sometimes there were beans to snap, or peas to shell. I enjoyed your post. Thank you

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Balisha, I love a porch. Since being solo I have always had a porch with a swing. Do here in this city cottage and there will be one in my country home.
How can anyone not have a porch to sit on. They are one special delight. I love this post.

Lona said...

What wonderful memories. My grandma had a porch on her old house that went along the front and down both sides of the house. It was so big. It was also a favorite place for us cousins to play when it was raining outside.

OhioMom said...

Love this post Balisha, and being a child in the 50's I can remember all the parents on their front porches, in fact we kids slept on ours .. no screens or locks .. a different time.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Balisha I loved this post so much!
Howard and I go out and sit on our front porch and watch the world go by too. People are starting to wave to us...and Mom's walking babies stop to chat a bit. I love a front porch...and this, probably my last home, is a wonderful thing to me. I loved the photo..
Wish you lived close...how nice that would be.
~smiles~
Mona

Balisha said...

Good morning....thanks for leaving such nice comments about my post.I look arouind my neighborhood and see no one on their porches. I wonder if it's something that older people grew up with and loved as children? Maybe younger folks are so busy that they don't take or have the time to relax on a porch.If that's the case...I think it's sad. It's like a no cost mini spa for our minds.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story, Balisha. I, too, remember sitting on the "front stoop", as we called it, for whatever reason, for it was simply a set of sturdily constructed wooden stairs with railings on each side. My (ex)in-laws lived in a big old farm house that had a glassed in "piazza" on the front -- strange the names they chose for things back then, when the word really doesn't even fit. There were two small sofas and a swing out there, along with stacks of homemade pillows, windowsills full of geraniums and other sun-loving plants. It would get sooo hot, and yet it was where everyone wanted to congregate after a meal. :-) Such nice memories.

Meadowview Thymes said...

Wish I could have a cup with you! Loved this post--and have I told you how much I like your blog name? Right now...I'm feeling kinda low..because..I never have enough time! :)