Page 198 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2021

198 | June 2021 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
story by Holly Harrison and Shannon Stage
HOME
ON THE PORCH
More than just a welcoming entry, the Southern porch is a magical place. It's where stories are told, dogs nap, and cocktails are shared. It’s where children play, books are read, and plans are hatched. Movies seem to over dramatize most everything Southern, but images on the big screen of the Southern porch are true to experience here in South Mississippi.
Take a drive along The Secret
Coast and you will see glorious front porches. As diverse as the sounds of southern voices, our porches have distinct features that make them uniquely ours. Some are deep with striped awnings. Some wrap all the way around the house. Some are framed by formal white columns while others are screened and accented with Georgian X’s or vintage cutouts.
You will see bench swings, comfortable chairs, and tables for sweet tea. Ferns often hang above hand railings and there will most likely be fragrant flora blooming nearby.
cross the water to enter your home. “Haint Blue” isn’t a particular blue. It doesn’t have a formula – it varies from porch to porch. But every porch will beckon you to come and sit a spell.
For centuries, the porch has been where we take a break and catch
our breath. While looking out at the yard we might nibble on homemade pimento cheese or drippy tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches. We might pour a drink and relax in the evening as the sun slips below the horizon. Or we savor a cup of coffee in the early hours of the day as the sun reappears. We invite folks over to join us on the porch and share the latest gossip. And if there is none, it's where we make some up. We sit outside on the porch because even when it’s too hot and humid to think straight, summers are bearable on the front porch.
Most of the porches will have a light blue ceiling. A tradition that began as a prayer that painting the ceiling the color of water would ward off “haints” or ghosts who would not