I don’t know what it is with me but I like to be out front. I have a nice back yard, but I like the front. I guess it’s the activity on the street. People walking their dogs, cars passing by, chatting with the neighbors.

Recently a friend bought a house and when I went to visit, the first thing that struck me was how closed in it felt. There were trees and bushes blocking the windows half way up the front of the house. I suggested that she pull them out and carve out a niche … a poor man’s front porch.