Beautiful Porch Living: Photos, Facts and Ideas
Porches - a place to relax and have fun
There is something delightful and alluring about the porches of our homes. Although the porch we now have with our home is quite small, it manages to be the main place where our family likes to congregate. The latest adventure on our porch was the family and the kids crowding together to carve their pumpkins. 3 adults and 3 kids managed to squeeze together while they created their masterpieces, at one with the sun and the bright blue day (see their pumpkin carving video below)
Most of the homes that I have lived in have had porches, but my last home had one of the prettiest little porches I have ever seen. It had a little white picket fence surrounding it, with trees and plants all around the 3 sides. Being a gardener, I had alot of fun decorating that porch - adding a cute little vintage angel table, a worn but comfortable white wicker chair, along with a pot that contained overflowing strawberries, waiting to be picked by lucky porch dwellers.
The photo above was taken one beautiful day when the sun was filtering onto the porch. I thought what a lovely picture it would make and went and in and grabbed my camera phone. It remains one of my favorite photos to this day. Every-time I Iook at it, it gives me a sense of peace, the same sense of peace I get when I'm sitting on my porch. The poem below is about how my porch makes me feel: "A Safe Haven for my Heart".
Our current porch - my family carving pumpkins
Facts about Porches
A porch (from the Catalan word porxo) is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.
There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location. All porches will allow for sufficient space for a person to comfortably pause before entering or after exiting the building. However, they may be larger. Verandahs, for example, are usually quite large and may encompass the entire facade as well as the sides of a structure. At the other extreme, the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan has the longest porch in the world at 660 feet (201.2 m) in length. (from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Porch)
(Dorsi Diaz is a freelance writer/publisher, photographer and artist that lives in the San Francisco Bay Area)
Poll on porches
Do you have a porch with your house or apartment?
The same porch photo with a "texture" effect
A Poem I wrote about my Porch
A Safe Haven for my Heart
You are my favorite place
to sit
to think
to spend time with those
that I truly love.
Sipping lemonade,
an iced tea,
or some coffee.
You always remain the best place to be.
In Rain
Summer
Sleet or snow,
Your arms always wrap around me
Comforting me,
healing me,
letting me breathe.
I watch the lovelies from your arms,
beautiful flowers,
grass,
sky.
All part of your
wondorous view.
Just a porch?
I think not.
A haven for my heart?
Yes.
@Dorsi Diaz
