Celebrating the 4th with a look at an American ideal....the front (or back) porch!!
I love the nostalgia of the porch! This green cottage is located near our Art Center of the Ozarks. Wouldn't you love to sit and rock for a bit?
Porches come and go in history and location around the world. They are very popular in the South. Porches provide and informal area....shady out of the total public view but not as private as being in the house itself.
African rulers are said to have used the porch concept as a place to interact with those wanting an audience. Under the porch roof, everyone was out of the hot sun, yet not intruding on the privacy of the living quarters of the ruler.
This is my own back porch, we don't have a front porch,.......... just a big yard with a huge elm tree!
These photos were taken today. It is cool and cloudy...we've had a couple of rather rainy weeks.
I use one end of the porch for my art studio (ha! I paint "all over the place") and the other end for reading, birdwatching and peaceful meals.
[I am getting very frustrated with Blogger...I am here in a stuffy " computer room" when I could be out on that porch...so I may not blog (log computer time) as much for a while...HA!]
(I spent a long time trying to do a link to a wonderful book about porches...http://www.amazon.com/American-Porch-Informal-History-Place/dp/1592282717/ref=sr_1_1/002-4074307-0771253?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183472513&sr=8-1 this is as good as I could do...after spending an hour trying to hide all the programing, I'm giving up and posting it this way....not too cute! But the book looks great and some copies are only $0.01!)
For the Fourth of July, we will be visiting our friends in a nearby town. They have an old farm house with a wonderful front porch....I'll post photos in a day or so!
I'm off to the farmer's market now for ingredients for ratatouille! Wishing all who see this a happy, healthy Fourth of July holiday! (overseas readers, have a lovely week too!)
