Porching in Little Flower
We do things a little differently on the Near Eastside. We walk to the beat of our own drummer… In fact, who needs a drummer?
When the idea of participating in the citywide porch party popped up on Facebook, we decided not to do it as individuals, but as a neighborhood. Thus, the Little Flower Porch Party Crawl was born. Why not walk from porch to porch, a wandering band of community-loving, friend-seeking, merry-making, drink-toting folks? Why not create a balloon color system, to indicate what kind of porching was going on at a particular location? Why not use social media to find fellow wanderers, or ports of call to visit? Why not meet neighbors and make new friends? Why not indeed.
And so we did. Names from Facebook became flesh-and-blood people with smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices. Eighteen-year veteran neighbors talked how to tame wisteria with two-year newcomers. Distant barks from blocks over became cute balls of fur in need of cuddles. Passersby, out for an evening walk, were beckoned over to join the fun. Watermelon and basil cocktails were made. Pigs-in-a-blanket were eaten. A neighborhood came together on porches across one Near Eastside community on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.