Mama’s Southern Porch

Here is another great “guest” post from Mama. Today, she tells us about her memories of the porch.

After reading all the comments about porches it brought back memories of my childhood.  We had a big cement front porch, a porch swing and two views of the two streets since we lived on a corner.

Many summer mornings and afternoons my friends from the neighborhood would come and play jacks on the porch, swing on the swing, play house or whatever. We would sometimes play cowboys, annie over, rover rover, swinging beauty, or maybe just go to the library and check out books,ride bikes or skate up and down the sidewalk but we would eventually end up on the porch resting and planning what to do next.

When I reached my teens the porch was a “meeting place” for boyfriends to sit in the swing or on the steps with me. We were, of course, under the watchful eye of my parents who were in the living room with the windows open, and could(and often did) appear at any moment to join us. I had many a goodnight kiss on the front porch.
I now have a screened-in porch which we enjoy immensely.  Two of our granddaughters love to come and swing on the glider and play and of course the backyard is just outside the screen door so it is like being outside but protected from the wind, bugs, sun, etc.
It seems sad to see so many homes with closed doors, no porches and many times no communication with neighbors. How can we ever get any problems solved, without porches?

Today’s Lagniappe: Sweet Tea
In the South when you order tea, it is either sweet or unsweet. Southerners love sweet tea. Here is a recipe to make your sweet tea to drink with a friend on the porch.

Around 3 quarts water
2 cups Sugar
4 Quart size tea bags.

Bring water to a rolling boil, add sugar. (Stir to dissolve)
Add 4 tea bags. Stir. Let sit around 20 minutes
Pour up into gallon jug or container. Fill the rest with cool water.