Your Porch Parties, No. 2

Well, you did it! We asked you to join us in hosting a city-wide porch party on July 13th and we were overwhelmed by the response.  Thanks to those of you who have sent us photos and accounts of the day. We’ll be sharing many of them here. So, enjoy! And if you haven’t had  a porch party of your own, what are you waiting for?

For those of us lucky enough to grow up Hoosier, summers in farmland Indiana mean sitting on the front porch in the evenings, watching the kids catch lightning bugs in the front yard and reflecting that the warm breezy evenings are a nice relief from the hot humid days. We'd hear the screen door creak and my grandparents would come in, toting treats from Dairy Queen. Dad always chose a Buster Bar and we'd quietly vie over the butterscotch and chocolate dilly bars. We'd play in the yard while the old folks sat on the porch, catching up. If you didn't stay still for too long, the mosquitoes wouldn't have time to feast, and the early evening wind in your hair as you swang on the swingset was enough to make anyone feel like they could conquer the world.

Now that us kids are grown up and having babies of our own, we live in the "Big City" of Indianapolis, as my grandparents would call it. My mom still thinks we're "city-fied" now because we lock our car doors and close our blinds at night, but really not a lot is different. Our friends gather together on Sunday evenings for catching up and discussing how beautiful God made the world, and between all the desserts folks pitch in, we never go hungry. The front porch may look over a city street now instead of gold Indiana corn, but the neighbors are just as nice and the warm summer air feels just the same.

PJB