How to build a porch

My mother wanted a back porch.  A porch would mean we would no longer track mud into her kitchen. It also would mean we were keeping up with the Joneses, and so, my father built a back porch. In the summer, it was a place for meals and relaxing in chairs or on the daybed, where I sometimes slept on hot nights. During the winter, since this was Buffalo, NY, it was a place to thaw the turkey, store containers of holiday cookies and, of course, our boots.

The second bedroom in my first apartment was really the unheated back porch, but my roommate was quite content, even on cold Chicago nights, to wrap up in several comforters and retreat to her space. In my third apartment, I had a balcony, the urban equivalent of a back porch. It faced south and was a great space for a morning cup of coffee but then often unusable until the sun started to set. Another place had a rather large landing, being the top of three flights of back stairs. Two chairs just fit and I bought an umbrella that came with a large clamp that attached to the railing.

I'm writing this on the back porch of my new place. It's enclosed, but with four large windows and a breezeway panel that is now hooked up for the season. My $2 dollar estate sale chairs are cheery with striped cushions and there are geraniums in colorful pots. It is peaceful here at daybreak as the bird chorus accompanies the sound of rain on the roof. 

That's what I've come to understand about back porches. They are a place of peace and quiet, of contentment and a sense that all can be right in the world. My father built one with concrete, wood, steel and linoleum tiles. With muscle, sweat and friends. I've found or recreated one in the midst of a busy barbecue on a crowded deck or dealing with writer's block trying to draft a musing from a rocking chair on a wraparound porch of an old Victorian mansion here in Oak Park. It's finding that feeling within yourself that makes the back porch ambiance, not the actual space that matters, although a view can help. While I smile at the memories of watching dolphins from a balcony in Hawaii and a herd of sheep from a front porch in New Zealand, being able to breathe and find a moment of rest in the midst of busyness at the office is what helps get me through the day. I wish you an easy way to build a back porch this week when you need it.

Marilyn