Along with the sound of a fresh draft beer hitting my glass, one of my many madelines is the word Spring. The hope of Spring makes living in the midwest in late February and March possible. It keeps many of us from jumping from the basement windows.
The word Spring rushes me back some 50 years, to the sound of air conditioners.
Back in the olden days, residential air conditioning was a hoped for promise. A world's fair trick. Life in the future, along with flying cars. The introduction of window a/c units made all things possible. Even life in the South.
In my neighborhood, the window AC lived in the parents bedroom. Kids could nap in there, but it would have had to feel like NOLA in August to let the kids and dogs inside those hallowed precincts at night. Some of the better families had two. One to watch television by. The neighborhood kids hung out there.
Back in the olden days, residential air conditioning was a hoped for promise. A world's fair trick. Life in the future, along with flying cars. The introduction of window a/c units made all things possible. Even life in the South.
In my neighborhood, the window AC lived in the parents bedroom. Kids could nap in there, but it would have had to feel like NOLA in August to let the kids and dogs inside those hallowed precincts at night. Some of the better families had two. One to watch television by. The neighborhood kids hung out there.
It was the AC that killed the porch, altered domestic architecture, and made the suburbs culturally sterile. I miss springtime on the porch most of all.
The current issue of Garden and Gun had a blurb announcing the release of a new book by Paula S. Wallace, President of the Savannah College of Art and Design. "Perfect Porches, designing welcoming spaces for outdoor living". Another Clarkson Potter picture book. I jumped immediately.
The current issue of Garden and Gun had a blurb announcing the release of a new book by Paula S. Wallace, President of the Savannah College of Art and Design. "Perfect Porches, designing welcoming spaces for outdoor living". Another Clarkson Potter picture book. I jumped immediately.
Many Potter books highlight the homes of the masters of the universe. Structures and locales few earthly beings know exist. This is somewhat more democratic in its reach. Country porches, southern porches, lakeside cabins, urban neighborhood porches.
I don't necessarily recommend it, Bunny Williams' "An Affair with a House" covers the same ground more eloquently, and Mary Randolph Carter's "Family Style" covers the country porch very well. It was however a good reminder of great days to come.
I don't necessarily recommend it, Bunny Williams' "An Affair with a House" covers the same ground more eloquently, and Mary Randolph Carter's "Family Style" covers the country porch very well. It was however a good reminder of great days to come.
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