This summer we have started FrontPorch Fridays. The entire block is invited to gather on my front porch. If you see me at 6:00 on Friday, come on up and I'll give you a glass of wine. If you don't drink wine bring your own; it's mostly about conversation. We talk about the weather, some politics, families, but mostly we talk about the neighborhood. Who has lived here the longest. How the second house on the left looked twenty years ago. What happened the year of the flood. We love it when the newest neighbors join in. That's when we can share the most about the neighborhood. We love our neighborhood!
The second principle of creation is interconnectedness or community. As we look at all living beings we recognize the need to be connected. All creatures in a given natural community are interconnected with one another and with the elements that sustain them. Creation as a whole functions as a living, maturing system. Just as every part of a living body is in communion with every other part, so everything in the universe is in communion with everything else in the universe. All that exists is interdependent and interrelated in an unbroken bond of communion. As humans we need to be connected to others (our families, friends, neighborhoods) as well as the natural environment around us.
I see our neighborhood as an example of a natural community. We know that by being interconnected, supporting one another, accepting one another in all our similarities as well as differences, we function more effectively. It's a happy way to live. We are living out the principle of interconnectedness and the FrontPorch Fridays are one way of strengthening our community. Besides, it's a lot of FUN!
Hey Susan! I LOVE your blog! What a great use of the internet, and good on your for being bold! I LOVE the FrontPorch Fridays--you know, I've figured out that rocking chairs and front porches have always played a BIG role in my life, funny thing! Our homes growing up always had front porches and always had chairs, and people always gathered on them. When I moved to Pacific Grove, CA, about 20 yrs ago, and moved into a tiny bungalow right on Ocean View Blvd, the first thing I did was buy two big, comfy rocking chairs and put them on the TINY covered front porch I had. But oh my what a view from that tiny front porch. I was right on the rocky shore of Monterey Bay/Pacific Ocean, with the ocean recreation trail right in front of my home. I was ALWAYS out there when I could be out there--most every morning after I'd walked the trail, I'd read the paper on the porch. At lunch, I'd usually sit out and just take in the crashing surf and the zany tourists and local surfers, hikers, walkers, bikers, tidepoolers, etc. There were often tour buses that would park and let their folks out to look around a little, and more often than not, I'd have Japanese tourists come over to me and ask if they could sit in the other unoccupied rocking chair and have a friend take our picture. Guess I"m in lots of Japanese photo albums! Ha! I would never miss a sunset from that porch, either, and I was particularly fond of cold, gray, damp, foggy, chilly, rainy days, when I'd wrap up in jackets and blankets and sit and drink hot chocolate out on the porch--waving at folks driving by thinking I was nuts! Funny thing is there were some huge, fancy homes along that shore, with big fancy porches with fireplaces and nice furniture. NEVER saw those folks enjoying them. Sad for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd I fondly recall while going to High School and University in Gainesville, on the highway between Gainesville and Crescent Beach, there was a little burg known as Florahome. There was ALWAYS a kind-faced older black gentleman that was ALWAYS out on his porch, waving, hollering hello, and smilin' at everyone EVERYtime we passed by his old porch there along that back country highway. He'll always have a place in my heart's heart--the greeter of Florahome!
Finally, I'll leave you with a little ditty that I really loved, and I sent to Celia Bugg when she sent me a picture of she and Andy in rocking chairs at a cabin in north Georgia recently--tells all we need to know about the good folk that hang out in rocking chairs on front porches!!
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Advice From a Rocking Chair in North Carolina
Author Mary Southerland told about an experience she’d had several years ago. She was living in the mountains of North Carolina. One of her passions was old-world country stores and the handmade “treasures” that filled them.
On one occasion, she was exploring some off roads in search of just such treasure and found herself on a dirt road.... Read More
She saw a bearded man sitting on the porch in a rocker with a pile of wooden logs by his side. By the porch railing she noticed a collection of beautifully carved wooden dogs. The mountain artisan asked her to join him and to feel free to ask any questions.
She had only one, “How in the world do you carve these beautiful dogs out of those ordinary pieces of wood?”
His priceless response? “Well, Missy, it’s pretty simple. I just take me a piece of wood and cut away everything that doesn’t look like a dog.”
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Much love to you Susan, dear old friend, and keep up the great writing! Max