Oldest to Youngest

Thanksgiving isn't just about turkey and the trimmings 

or Pilgrims and Indians gathering together for a first feast/game day. 

It's mainly about family. It's the biggest family day of the year,

 and many Americans travel great distances to be there. 

Our family reunited on a front porch in Old Town Selma, 

and here, the oldest and youngest say "Hello!"

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Rocking Through Summer

"Dog Days" have begun early, and this royal resident of Old Town has chosen the chair where he plans to rock his way through summer.

Thanks again to guest photographer Christine Weerts.

Alabama: One Big Front Porch

"Alabama, they say, is like one big front porch where folks gather on summer nights to tell tales and to talk family."

That's how the intro begins to Selma author Kathryn Tucker Windham's book, "Alabama: One Big Front Porch," and boy, does my well-worn copy bring back memories!

I miss my old front porch...the one I grew up on...a wrap-around with gingerbread trim, a swing beneath a cupola and a hammock on the side screen porch. We even had electric lights and fans out there, and it was where we gathered at night to cool off, play dominoes, drink lemonade, eat homemade ice cream and tell tales.

On hot days, I would spend the afternoon in the hammock reading "Nancy Drew" or sitting on the porch shelling butterbeans with my brothers as we told jokes. During summers of the 60s, we could sit on the porch behind the giant azaleas and not be noticed as we watched Civil Rights demonstrations across the street at the courthouse. It's where we sat on election night waiting results of the vote and where we watched hometown parades and state campaign rallies.

Oh, the stories I could write from my front porch education!
Did you grow up on a porch?

Front Porch

Selma has wonderful front porches in its historic districts...Old Town, Ice House, Riverview. This porch is similar to the one on the house where I grew up. That's where we played in summer when it was too hot in the sun. We had a swing, a hammock, fans, hanging ferns, even an electric ceiling light on the screened porch for gatherings after dark. That's when we played cards and made homemade ice cream.
During the day, we turned the porch into a "pretend hospital" and used bikes and wagons for ambulances, M&Ms for medicine and the hammock for triage. It's also where we shelled peas and butterbeans and where the cat had her kittens.
These days, the temperatures have been too hot for people to even sit on a porch, but I imagine cooler weather by September will bring them back out.