But I did have a porch! I completely forgot here what i was going to write about. My original idea was to write about my childhood porch. Yes I know i said that I didn't have one, just a stoop, but there was the summer porch. No not as in our "summer home" we were not wealthy,we were middle class - probably lower middle, tho i didn't realize it at the time. Every summer ( well alot of them) we went to the Jersey shore - to Bradley Beach to be specific; tho in my teenage years that changed to Belmar, but that's another post. So every summer we would pack up to go stay at Ida's boarding house - i think it might have had a name - i don't remember; but i do remember Ida - she was an imposing buxom woman- you didn't mess with her. I actually avoided her at all cost. It wasn't as bad as i'm portraying,I was just a shy child.
I remember it was a really big porch with lots of chairs and this one glider - that I got my finger stuck in once! I can remember how nice it was to sit on that porch, right after showering after the beach, or early in the morning before everyone was up. You could feel the breeze,smell the salt water and have the warmth of the sun on you. I can also remember walking up to the corner and getting a bag of fries - they served them in a small paper bag and you just added salt and ketchup, to your liking, and shook the bag to mix it up and then just kept reaching in for another as you walked back to the house or on the boardwalk. If you had enof change you'd buy a coke or root beer or an Italian ice. I think boardwalk food can be another post. But I'm digressing.
What I really remember is the nites on the porch. I remember this heavyset jovial fellow,( I wish I could remember his name) ,who would tell stories, jokes, sing songs; it was just so much fun. I don't know if I can recall another time like that in my life - the comadarie, the laughter, the smell of the salt air - it all made you feel like part of something,something bigger, like you belonged right there on that porch.
8 years ago
9 comments:
That porch sounds like a good place to be :o)
And BTW (as I always find these things interesting) porch is another of those words which means something different across the pond - a porch here is a small [often] enclosed area just before you front door - and sadly not large enough to put chairs on.
Jona- that's interesting, what you describe is called a portico here - i know cause i wanted to put one on my house at one time.
That is interesting. In FL, we'd call Jona's porch a Foyer. Unless your in one of the ritzy mansions, then it's a portico.
rdl - love the follow up on stoops :)
lulubelle- Thanks. I like the name of the what we call up north here the "sunroom" and in Fla. they call ?sp - the Lanai - sounds tropical. also up here the Portico is the structure out front of the house(coveredy entry). I thought foyer was the inside hallway. sounds like another post. :D
Oh I love this, the memories, Rdl. You evoke the place so well.
We are thinking along the same lines too, I'm just drafting something about summer holiday places .... it won't be up for a while though.
I really enjoyed reading this — it reminded me so much of the summer porch my grandparents had, complete with glider, where I used to spend memorable nights watching fireflies outside and being eversothankful for no mosquitoes! I remember the smell of the cement floor, of the screens where I would press my nose and wind up with little crosshatching on my skin... Ah, you see what you have done!
mb - glad you enjoyed it - can't wait to hear more of your summer vacation.
We have a double wide in Florida with one of those lanai's across the front with the cool jalosie(sp) windows I love. I am so New England that I refer to it as the porch.
Nice post and the very reason I live near the ocean. The smell and sound. Yummy!
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