"Form follows function.'
Frank Lloyd Wright
Or, at least I think that it was Mr. Wright who uttered that architectural edict. How something is used determines its shape. Is that what he meant? If so, then that can go far in explaining why few new houses have the almost 'sacred space' that was once a mainstay in this region . . . the front porch. On our block there are four houses with a stoop (or place to stand while waiting for someone to answer the doorbell). Six have what (with much generosity) can be called a 'porch', though none have those requisite staples of a 'real' front porch . . . a swing and rocking chairs.
We spent a few hours with my brother's family this afternoon. His porch has both swing and chairs. Unfortunately, Springtime has taken a brief vacation and the temperature was too chilly for front-porch-sitting, swinging and story-telling. (Please, 'storytelling' in this context does not mean 'telling lies' but telling tales, many of them truthful, and told again for the 'first time'.)
In my youth, I enjoyed "settin' a spell" on several front porches. One of my memories from the early 1940's is of waiting in our swing to see dad come up our walkway from the cotton mill where he worked. A few years later after moving to another town, I did a lot of Tom Sawyer and Zane Grey reading in another swing. Sitting on porches at my maternal grand-parents and at dad's sister's , not only did I hear a lot of family stories but I also realized that I was surrounded by much love.
Perhaps it has been the overall pace and tempo of life that hastened the demise of the porch. Or, maybe it was the advent of air-conditioning. It does get 'toasty' around here for much of the year. Sometime in the 1950's or 1960's, dwellings in so-called 'developments' began to change in appearance. And, our street is a microcosm of that shift. "Form" really has been influenced by "function".
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| Joseph sharing his rocker with Hundley the Hound |
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| A Porch is a perfect spot for Wedding pictures Satchel |
I so love the memories your great article brings back, but there is also sadness that this feature of Mayberry has been lost. (Of course there were some other features of that time and place that weren't good.)
ReplyDeleteIt was the advent of air conditioning and the abvent of neighborhood sidewalks.
ReplyDelete(Is that a word? Yea verily, it is now.)
Wow! So many of my childhood memories are of PawPaw's front porch on Holly St. and the swing. When the cousins get together that is one of things we always reminisce about. Well spoken cousin.
ReplyDelete