Nothing gives me peace quite like sitting on my front porch. It’s an escape, but also a window to the happenings in my neighborhood. It’s a chance to just sit and be present. It’s a chance to think. It’s a place to enjoy a cup of coffee or wine while chatting with my husband. It’s a spot to read.
My front porch is a place to enjoy watching a storm roll in. It’s a perch for me to sit and watch my kids play with sidewalk chalk or ride their bikes. It’s a place for me to sit quietly and pray. It’s a place for me to watch the world go by. It’s a chance to see the same neighbors each evening walking their dogs and greet them. It’s a place for neighbors to stop and chat. It’s a place where I go when I need to be alone. It’s a place I go where I can talk to my mom on the phone. It’s a place I go when I need a break from the news. It’s a place I go and listen to the birds chirping to each other.
It’s a place I go to as I sit and watch the trees evolve as the seasons change. My porch is a place to watch the pollinators dance in my garden. My porch is a spot where I can watch my daughter play with her fairy garden. I sit on my porch as I watch my kids run around the front yard barefoot with their ball or blowing bubbles. My porch is where I sit and watch my kids catch fireflies. My front porch offers shade and a nice breeze when the heat of summer takes its hold.
My porch is a place that encourages conversation. My porch is a place where my husband and I sit and look at our flowers and discuss our days and upcoming plans. It’s a place where we can be silent next to each other while we rock in our chairs and look out at the world around us.
My front porch is a place where I can sit and look at our American flag that stands tall in our front yard. I love the sound it makes when a good wind whips by, and the subtle clank of the flagpole rope brushes that against our pole. It’s a chance for me to pause and remember those who fought so hard for us to have our freedom. I think about those who died for our freedom as my kids kick their soccer ball and play tag. I think of their mothers. They, too, at one time sat watching their children romp and play from a porch before they gave their lives for my freedom.
Photo provided by Megan Rathz
There’s a reason when people talk about growing old together that it’s often met with the image of sitting together in rocking chairs on the front porch. It’s not about the cliché sayings or cutesy wooden signs; it’s about an escape to a place where you can find peace.
My porch is a shelter. My porch is my safe spot. My porch is where I go when I need to re-center and re-focus. Few places in life encourage you to just sit, which is exactly what my porch requires. It’s a place to sit. It’s my refuge. In fact, I think my front porch might just be the most important room in my home.
Megan Rathz is a wife, mother, and teacher. She says everything she has ever learned in life came from her Master Gardener mother.