Our ‘front’ porch – or at least the porch that most people step onto as they approach our house – seems to have developed a life of its own. Things happen there unbidden by any of this household’s occupants.

Last summer, for instance, the porch apparently sent out welcoming notices to the nasturtiums growing in the adjacent flowerbed and they climbed right on up leaving friends and family behind. Not a second glance. They are still there – not quite as cheerful and flowery as they were a few months back, but then who is?

The chickens, too, like to walk back and forth along the length of the porch. Sometimes they pause at the west end and look through the gate slats at the passing parade in the street. At other times, they express great interest in the house, itself, especially if the door is open. So far, they haven’t come on in. They seem to understand that entering without knocking or ringing the bell is bad form.

Most people understand that protocol, as well. Even friends we’ve asked to just “walk in and holler” have trouble with that (like during the long months Nyel was immobile last year.) It seems ingrained, these days, to enter only if there is a face-to-face invitation. That wasn’t so true in my childhood. Things were simpler then and neighbors often “yoo-hooed” and came on in.

The porch also seems to enjoy its status as a storage area. The outside boots that get left by the door frequently grow to amazing proportions, especially during the summer when we have lots of house guests. Short-term storage is actually a porch specialty – it provides both a bench and a table for the convenience of the UPS guy or for those who need to leave us something when we aren’t home. Usually those things are in the ‘expected or pre-arranged’ category.

But just recently, the porch acquired a new trick. It became a drop-off locale for unsolicited food. To be specific: miniature muffins – the kind that look healthy to eat. However, without a clue as to their source, we are reluctant to dig in, as they say. Somehow, ingesting mystery muffins doesn’t seem like a good idea. In addition to which, we have no idea how long the porch was providing hospitality to them. Contrary to popular belief (apparently), we don’t do periodic porch checks…