After World War II technology took over our lives. We began to live in a fast paced world where we didn’t have time to sit on our porch or to socialize with our neighbors, thus the decline of the front porch. This allowed the criminal to move into our neighborhoods. We don’t even know the name of most of our neighbors, we don’t have time to stop and say hi let alone gather to talk, sing or play games.

Lately there has been a yearning to go back to simpler times, when life was simpler, when we knew our next door neighbor. In recent years we have seen the return of the front porch but we still don’t have the time to sit and gather with our neighbors.

So what would happen if we actually took the time to sit on our porch and get to know the people next door? Maybe this would help bring our neighborhoods back to the safe place they used to be. Maybe it would deter the murderer, the rapist, the child predator or the drug dealer from moving next door.

We need to take back our neighborhoods so that our children are safe. Maybe the answer is so simple that we have overlooked it. Maybe it is as simple as the return of the front porch. But it won’t do any good to just build a porch we will have to actually use it.

One way to implement the use of the front porch is to invite your neighbors over for a pot luck barbecue. There are many activities you will be able to come up with that everyone would enjoy.

So why don’t we turn off the televisions, get off the internet and take the time to gather on the front porch, get to know our neighbors and bring back the safe haven our neighborhoods should be.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it’s just as simple as making our front porch a gathering place.

Diana Bays is the co-owner of Mamma’s Primitive Hut. Visit her online store for your candle needs [http://www.mammasprimitivehut.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diana_Bays

I remember sitting on my porch in Texas watching the fireflies
light up.  My friends and I would play games catching the fireflies
and putting them in a bottle. The person with the most fireflies
won the game. Summer nights were always special times. My friends and I could stay outside light at night running and jumping on the porch swings at the neighbors house.

I can still see my grandmother sitting on her porch. My grandmother
lived next door to us. She would call to me from her porch so I could
come over and get a treat. I had several porches in my childhood
because the neighbors would gather on someone’s porch and drink
lemonade and eat cookies. Everyone’s porch was available for an
impromptu get together.

Our porch was nothing elaborate just concrete steps that lead to a
wider expanse of concrete. The porch was wide enough so that the
family could gather outside when the weather permitted and enjoy
conversations, tell jokes and find out all the latest gossip.

Mr. Henderson and his wife lived across the street. I can still
see him rocking in his rocking chair watching the neighborhood.
We considered “The Henderson’s the noisy neighbors because they
knew everybody’s business. They would tell stories to the parents
about the antics of the children. Mrs. Henderson took her seat on
the porch in the morning and made quilts with some of the older
neighbors.

When I was transferred to California, there were no porches. In
fact my friends had never experienced the camaraderie of porch
sitting. They did not know that a valuable learning experience
had somehow escaped them because they never knew the joy of porch
sitting.

Porches are making a revival all over the country. Some homeowners
are searching for that connection to their childhoods. Some
homeowners who never had a porch in childhood see the addition of
a porch as an inexpensive addition to their living space.

A porch can offer a place to eat, a quiet place to read, relax
and experience nature. Porches are used to get acquainted with
nature. Sitting outside can provide the opportunity to chat with
neighbors and get to know them. These inexpensive additions can
provide a valuable tool for building and uniting a community unit.
The porch in its simplest terms can help the neighborhood become an
extended family.

Neighbors passing by feel free to say “hello”. They just might be
invited to the porch to share a glass of water. Americans are
emerging from a cocoon weaved from their need for privacy. Americans
are stepping out from their air conditioned homes and are moving
outside on the porch to meet their neighbors and enjoy nature.

About the Author

Tim Gorman