Tonight, I sat on the porch swing as evening fell, reveling in the moment, the transition, no longer day, but yet not yet night, a time in-between worlds.  Sitting on the swing as evening falls is an experience, a memory from my past.  Sitting on the porch as evening falls is something of slower times, of times past, of times I remember and cherish.  As a child we would go visit grandma and grandpa at their farm out in the country.  Dinner would be late for on summer nights it would be cooler to sit down as a family to eat.  After dinner, the table would be cleared, the dishes washed, and then we would go sit on the front porch as evening fell.  Mom and my sister or brother and I would perhaps sit in the porch swing, the grownups sitting rocking chairs, time would slow.  There would be little talk for we all were there in the moment, enjoying a bit of coolness from the hot summer day.  The rhythmic sound of the rocking chairs as they creaked on the floor, the sound of the crickets slow gaining in volume, frogs croaking, a whippoorwill, lighting bugs flashing.  As a dog barked in the distance grandpa would pause in his rocking, cocking an ear to one side then to the other, and after a few moments would say really slowly in a southern drawl “sounds like Maxie’s dog got a coon”.  We would all listen closer to the sound of the chase when the sound of the dogs barking would change, and grandpa would say “sounds like he got him treed”.  Dusk would fall, the kids eyes would become heavy and mom and dad would gather us up and get us to the car for the drive home.

  These days the tables have turned, I make dinner for Dad and my brother, after which we clear the table, clean the dishes and sit on the back porch as evening falls.  The sounds are the same, crickets chirping, the sound of the whippoorwill, a dog barking in the distance, it begins to darken, Dad’s eyes became heavy and he announces he should be getting home.  I gather him up (figuratively speaking for he is 92 years old but still getting around on his own), see him to his car and drive home.  

  Sitting on the porch is a time of peace, a time of contentment, a time of connectedness to family, a special time, a time deeply rooted. 

Larry Mixson,  6-26-2019