Front porch communication fuels community, connections

Days of the quiet, uneventful evenings after supper, when families gathered outside on the front porch to talk about the day’s this ’n’ that’s, are a thing of the past.

Today’s families are out and about working swing shifts and second jobs while the children are involved with their activities be it sports, academics or video games. Just sitting down together at the supper table would be a novelty in itself, consequently sitting together after supper would be a bonus. Unfortunately, those days are just a memory.

Perhaps you could attribute a simple explanation of the demise of the front porch or the stoop as it is called in the cities like Boston where I was raised.

Due to the hectic pace of today’s society, free time is becoming extinct unless we make an assertive effort to rectify the problem with soluable ideas.

Whatever the reason for the now defunct front-porch conversations, perhaps we are looking in the wrong direction.

The difference between now and then is that in the past, families and friends gathered in only one area of the house. We must continue to remind ourselves that the front-porch concept is not materialistic but rather the aspect of the human spirit.

Years ago, the front porch was a place to hang out, relax and just talk about anything that came to mind. In some respects, it could be thought of as a safe place, in that rules need not apply. It was a place where one’s thoughts and opinions could be vocalized and shared. What mattered was the coming together and communicating.

Fortunately for us baby boomers, we can rattle our memories and instantly visualize what it was like to go outside on the porch and just talk about the day’s happenings – nothing was too trivial.

It’s impossible to relive that part of our lives and for that reason the Front Porch or Vocal Point forums of the Voices are an ideal way of communicating opinion, commenting on observations of our community, the changes and growths. It’s our so-called comfortable place, a setting where there is flexibility of subject matter; just relax and enjoy sharing ideas.

Although we can’t turn back the hands of time, we still owe it to our elders, ourselves the baby boomers, and, more importantly, to our future generation to make an attempt to capture and revitalize this forum on a larger scale via the Front Porch column of the Voices.

Reading and contributing to the forum reconnects the values which we were raised on but puts such topics of conversation in a different setting.

Times have changed and will continue changing be it in the city, country and closer to home, our Valley. Columns like the Front Porch or Vocal Point in a small way are keeping the idea of camaraderie and sharing of ideas alive among us.