Porch times...

The porch at my mother and father's house has for years been a place of comfort, solace, support. Words are said, embraced, untangled and left honest and open for our loved one's discretion. We laugh so hard and learn so much. We love so hard and our loyalty knows no boundaries here. The breeze whips through the trees and makes them whisper secrets of their own. Sticks crack in the woods and we know we're not alone there in the dark with our solitary porch light shining much more than just on our flesh, but down on our souls. All is exposed here. There are no secrets, there are no pasts that we don't know about. This tie that bonds grows stronger as each evening passes that we sit in the plastic chairs painted red and remember our old times and talk about our new times. Words leave our lips and find ears willing to listen, console, help. I always leave a piece of my heart there on that porch when I leave. Its never a scheduled activity, youll never find it on my planner. But, these times are worth it all. In the daytime hours we slap mosquitoes, watch kids run around in the yard growing before our very eyes, and smell hotdogs cooking on the grille. We wipe sweat from our brows and sometimes a bottle of water is poured on a poor unsuspecting soul. We love this. We love our family. In the nighttime hours, we drink coffee, smell the fresh air and exhale knowing we're blessed. We're blessed with this family, with these friends. We're blessed to know these good times, to call them our own. Every time the chairs are pulled out and the crickets chirp we all know summer has come and the porch times have started again. The treefrog lurches towards his moth dinner and the kids sit amazed, and sometimes the adults also. Its simple times, its the best of times. Its a gift thats always there year after year and welcomes back another summer of ninety degree weather, sweat, and smiles. I think we're all better for being a part of this, a club with no name, a family thats bound.