Front Porches. When did they drop off the face of the Earth? The sociologists tell us that we’ve replaced them with back yard decks. When they went, there went the neighborhood. Now we drive into our garages (whose doors are raised and lowered without our leaving the car) and never see our neighbors. People can live next door to people for years and never meet them.

Until the advent of the garage door clicker — and maybe central air, however, we all sat outside on warm evenings and visited. We did kitchen prep as we discussed the day. We ate our dessert and saw what the neighbors were eating.  You knew your neighbors then. And that was a wonderful thing. I think Porches did a lot to hold the neighborhood together.

The flowers were just the bonus… they gilded the lily… but they did it so well.

Let us recall the Peace of the Porch. Let us relive the Peace of the Front Stoop.