The Frustrated Americans

We are blessed in East Tennessee with some simply beautiful days in early spring.  Today was definitely one of those, with nice warm temperatures and a pleasant breeze.  It’s a great time of year, before the itchy bugs start their annoying habits and the humidity creates a literal wet blanket across the South.  The air was fresh and clean, with the warm smell of emergent vegetation on the breeze.  After work I decided to enjoy the near perfect conditions by indulging in an activity that is nearly forgotten in the modern world; sitting on the porch.  The phrase “sitting on the porch” is far too formal for this marvelous past time.  I prefer “porch sittin'”.  In my Georgia drawl, it would come out “porch settin'”, but I’m afraid that too much vernacular might give the editorial board here at TFA a migraine.  Anyway, porch sittin’ more effectively conveys the relaxed and subdued nature of what is taking place when one spends time on the porch enjoying the spring breeze.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have spent our formative years in the South should be very familiar with porch sittin’.  In those dark days before the invention of air conditioning, houses were constructed with porches on multiple faces of the house so that one could have access to shade and try to catch the breeze throughout the day.  Today, we’re lucky if a house has any sort of porch whatsoever.  Pap and Grandmother’s house had a front porch and a back porch.  The back porch was enclosed and housed Grandmother’s washing machine and Pap’s tools.  That’s where we broke beans, shucked corn, and did other chores.  The back porch was for work.  The front porch, however, was more relaxing.  It faced US Highway 41, which used to be the main route from Florida northward and is still a very busy highway.

When I was a boy, I spent many hours on that porch with Pap, just sittin’ there, watching cars go by and talking about stuff.  They had these old wooden chairs with seats made of woven metal strips that we used for porch sittin’.  If I remember correctly, those chairs were some of the first things they had when they set up housekeeping.  I have one of them and I treasure it.  You could lean them back on their back legs just enough to get your feet up on the banister, a fine position for watching the world go by.  Sometimes we’d count cars and sometimes Pap would tell stories.  If a neighbor happened by, there was a Howdy! and a bit of conversation.  All in all, I found it to be a fine way to spend an afternoon.

Somehow, I had almost forgotten just what a pleasure porch sittin’ can be.  I haven’t done it in years.  The porch at my house isn’t very big and there is no banister upon which to put your feet.  But it’s on the shady side of the house in the afternoon and overlooks our road.  There are bird nests in the corners that I just don’t have the heart to remove.  It is a perfectly serviceable porch for sittin’, but a person has to slow down long enough to actually sit.  Like most of you, my life is very busy and driven by a schedule.  I rush to get out of the house in the morning, I hurry to get my workout done, hurry to the office, rush to meet deadlines, get home as fast as I can after work, then rush around trying to get everything done at home that has to be done in the evening so I can hurry off to bed.  I spend entirely too much time looking at some electronic device or other and just rushing around.  Porch sittin’ is a potent antidote for the toxins created by our crazy lives.

Today, I decided that I was going to get out a folding chair and do some porch sittin’.  I’m not sure what triggered my desire to do it.  I had been outside most of the day and knew it was a perfect day, and I’d been thinking about my grandparents, too.  I think about them often, but some days, they are really with me strong.  Today was one of those days for some reason.  Something in all of that led me to the porch.  I sat there for about 45 minutes, just watching the cars go by, the birds fly, listening to dogs bark and kids play.  My phone was with me but I never looked at it.  It was wonderful!  Maybe it was the simple fact that I didn’t do a darn thing for nearly an hour.  I think it was more than that, though.  I think it was porch sittin’.   There is something especially therapeutic about being outside on a warm day with a cool breeze blowing across your face and just sittin’.  It is an environment perfectly suited for allowing yourself to slow down, clear your head, and refocus on what’s important.

I wish I could say that porch sittin’ is going to become a regular part of my day.  I know better than that.  But, I do plan to do more of it before the heat of summer drives me inside.  It seems like such a simple thing, and it is.  But that’s the beauty of it!  All you need is a comfortable chair and a porch.  Do yourselves a favor, friends.  Go do some porch sittin’.  Sit with your spouse, your kids, your dog, or just go out by yourself, but leave your phone in the house.  Take a few deep breaths and remember what spring smells like.  Focus on how good it feels to just sit there.  You’ll thank me.