Anyone who knows me knows I like sitting out on my front porch – or as I say it, sittin’ on the porch and visiting. Do you?
Now in most of Southern California, that’s a hard thing to do as houses out here were built with cars and driveways as their version of a front porch. A few homes have kids playing on those driveways, though not as many as used to do.
When we came out to California and my parents bought a house, we spent a lot of time in that driveway, playing basketball, four-square, and a whole bunch of other things with our neighbors and others from around the neighborhood.
So, in effect, it became our front porch. We would sit on chairs out there and drink iced tea and in later life, adult beverages. We celebrated the Fourth of July for many years with a huge water fight, sometimes involving as many as 40 people – some of whom just walked or drove by and parked. Of course, our policy was anyone within range of our water was subject to getting involved, whether they wanted to or not.
During breaks in the all-day water fight, we would hand crank and eat homemade ice cream, or hot dogs, hamburgers and more.
But back to the front porch. A few years after we bought our house we had to redo the landscaping in the front of our house and we decided to put in a “front porch.” It’s really just some concrete made to look like stones. And then we plopped down the first of several front porch swings on it.
The first two were wooden, but that didn’t matter. A few pillows made it all right. I’d sometimes take a nap on it. Later freestanding swings were the kind that most use on their patios, but not me. Mine might be patio swings, but it goes on the front porch – not the patio or backyard.
Many times, during the warmer parts of the years, I will sit out on my front porch. Sometimes I’ll just sip a beverage and nosh on snacks like peanuts, cashews or freshly popped popcorn (that tastes just as good and just like the popcorn found at Disneyland!) and watch the world go by. If people happen to walk by, usually walking their dog, I’ll say hello and maybe we’ll chat a while. Other times, I’ll read a book, surf the web on my smart phone, or make or take phone calls out there.
I’ve told others about my little front porch and over the years many have come by to spend an hour or two just visiting. Yep, just visiting. We will talk about anything and everything. A harkening back to my childhood in Indiana where many of the houses we or my relatives lived in had front porches – with swings.
Over the years the porch became a thing, some of the friends and acquaintances I met while working at the Orange County Register and from my first career as a Disney Imagineer, have stopped in for visits.
A few years ago, one of the regular visitors asked if they and their friend could come by for a visit to “The World Famous Eades Front Porch.” I said sure, and they dropped by a little while later. They took a couple photos of themselves and me on the porch and a little while later it was posted on Facebook and Twitter. They tagged me, and in the post said they really enjoyed just visiting at “The World Famous Eades Front Porch.”
The name stuck. Later that year I was at IAAPA, the big theme park expo held every November in Orlando, Florida. While there I met with and saw many folks I’ve known over the years in the theme park biz, and many others who knew me, or knew of me. What was amazing, surprising and really cool was how many of them wanted to know if they could stop by for a visit to “The World Famous Eades Front Porch.”
It was amazing, surprising and really cool (didn’t I just say that?) was that they knew of the porch and its new name.
So, I’ve stuck with the name and for more than three plus years it’s been called just that, “The World Famous Eades Front Porch.”
My daughter had a sign created for the porch last year, and also had three glasses with a logo on them for the porch that she also had created. We’ve joked that we could maybe sell the glasses (one for wine, one for ice cold beverages like iced tea or lemonade and one for a cocktail.) as souvenirs, or maybe make and sell T-shirts.
Who knows. I haven’t really pursued that too much because of the pandemic we’ve been in, though people still visit the porch; they just have to sit more than six feet away on chairs placed on the front lawn.
What else should I do? Some have said I should do a podcast from the porch. Not sure what I would talk about. I did a few Facebook live things last summer. I’ll take suggestions for a podcast, or subjects and think about that one. If you readers have any ideas send ‘em to me via email to markaeades@aol.com.
For now, sittin’ on The World Famous Eades Front Porch is reserved for sitting and watching the world go by, reading, and visiting – while enjoying some popcorn, peanuts or cashews and sipping a beverage.
Y’all stop by now for a visit!
