Welcome, Ven a gozar!

I spent the day out of town visiting family today. I always enjoy visiting family. It is nice to see the kids, and how they grow. Listening to their views and occasional embellished stories is always special. Some of their funniest stories come from things they observe, or have recently happened at their school, especially when they are animated while they tell me their tales.

One of the best parts of being here, is sitting on my Mother-In-Law’s porch. The porch faces the street in a mostly quiet neighborhood. It is an old part of a small town, and unfortunately there are a few abandoned houses on the block. I like to think that is a sign of a well used neighborhood, and not a run down part of the town.

There are a lot of memories surrounding that old porch. I can sit there and think about years past, when there was a holiday and all the family would be there. We would play games, eat, and have fun laughing and joking. I remember a lot of family barbeque’s, that took place by that porch. There were many Fourth of July celebrations from when the nephews and nieces were old enough to participate.

The street would be filled with pops and bangs, smoke, bottle rockets, and of course firecrackers. The kids would be fearlessly wading through the smoke and waste paper, trying to light their next firework, and then running to get another. Some years this off the porch view was better than the city displays I have seen, if not in size, then certainly in duration.

Then there were the quiet afternoon chats with family members, and friends on the porch. Solving world problems, planning the next family get together, or family group vacation. Many years ago the family went as a group to northern New Mexico. The planning was started many months in advance by one family member. As always, on the porch conversation and planning took place before the actual event arrived. All the who, when, and what time questions were discussed sitting in the shade on that porch.

This year most of the family took off to California to see the sights in and around Los Angeles. Because the family is grown up with their own families, and spread out over the state, conversations on the porch were mostly done in reflection, or between two or three members of the family at one time.

I sometimes wish I could move that porch a little closer to where I now live. That way whenever I wanted to think about all the things that took place sitting or are standing around the porch, it would be close by. Other days, I am happy the porch is so far away, because like all memories, that is what they are. They can be relieved over and over in my mind. As with all memories, that is all they are, a marker of time that has mostly long since past.

Comments (0) Oct 27 2007