I’ve always liked front porches. Something about a big front porch makes a house feel more welcoming. It’s like the hospitality of the home spills outside beyond the walls. The house offers you chairs even before you open the front door. It’s like it can’t wait for you to sit and visit.

The porch is an intermediary between the private sanctity of the house and the public square of the street. You are still at home, but you can engage the world around you. Maybe that’s why front porches can be so relaxing. The world is there but you don’t have to leave home.

Perhaps it’s the idea of leisurely visiting that makes front porches so attractive. In today’s society we rarely have time to just sit, much less sit and visit with friends. Oh we sit a lot. We sit at our desks working, we sit and watch television, we sit and scroll through our social media. Porches invite you to sit just for the sake of sitting. They ask you to watch the world pass by the house and wave at it. Or maybe call out to your neighbors. The porch was the original social media.

As the weather cools for autumn find a porch. Chat with a friend, wave to a neighbor, scratch the ears of a dog or a cat or an alligator. Do whatever relaxes you. Put down the phone for a bit and watch the world go by.