In small towns, like the one I grew up in Wisconsin, as well
as in the older neighborhoods of large cities, there are still old houses with
porches. Often they are close enough to the sidewalk that people walking by can
talk to the people sitting there. Porches are also good for writing.
In the summer, in the time before air conditioners and cable
TV, people would come out to their porch after dinner to cool down, put their
feet up, and talk until it became too dark to see each other’s faces — how
everyone’s day went, who was having surgery tomorrow, who was in town visiting
relatives, and what did everyone think about the plan to build a new school?
