It used to be . . . Oh, I get so tired of saying that!  Nevertheless, it used to be, years ago, that front porches were the periods - not the question mark, not exclamation point, but the periods at the end of a long summer day:  The family gathering place as the sun sank and the moon rose and the soothing sounds of evening lulled everyone into an aura of peace and well being.   

           Today’s backyard patio doesn’t pull a family together as yesterday’s porch did.  First of all, who has the time?  And isn't it strange that all of our fancy modern push-button appliances and automobiles and computers and all other supposedly time-saving inventions seem to just complicate our lives even more.  So how is it that years ago, without all those wonderful things we now have, that families at day's end had the time to drag a few kitchen chairs out onto the porch and soak up the peace, the sounds and the beauty of oncoming night?  Days were long and hard, but they sat softly talking and resting weary bones until the night lowered its final curtain.  

            Today we have our patios:  Polished stones, fashionable lounging chairs, an assortment of tables boasting glazed, sleek surfaces of ceramic tile and glass, potted plants placed where they can soak up the sun.  Beautiful!  Picture perfect!  The only thing missing are people - the family.  Who has the time to just sit and soak up all that twilight offers?  What is more, who even wants to?  Dad is involved in the football game on TV; mom is chatting on the phone.  Amy is in her bedroom with her friend Debbie playing "grown-up" and Alan has a video game going in the playroom downstairs.  The hymnist who wrote The Ties That Bind should see us now.  
    
            So, for the most part, porches are gone, gone, gone!  But now do you know what we do for relaxation and even socializing?  The hot tub.  Of course, hot tubs have been around a long time.  In ancient Greece and Rome bath houses provided euphoric release for tired and aching bodies.  Sandals and togas were dropped as steam enveloped weary bodies.  Men relaxed in the baths and women waited on them.  "Your towel, Mr. Caesar.  Mr. Sempronius, your goblet.  Here, let me peel that grape for you."  Wasn't too long until women jumped into their own baths as well, telling the men to peel their own grapes.  You know the rest.  Rome burned, Nero fiddled, and the only thing left in Greece was the Parthenon - well, part of it anyhow. 

             Oh, please tell me how I got from porches to hot tubs - rather, how did we get from porches to hot tubs?  I guess the answer has to be time, revitalization and progress.  Progress especially has booted us into another era. 

             Here we are - for better or worse.  A little of both.  There are those of us who longingly look back to what used to be, perhaps wishing that our kids and grandkids could experience the simple sweetness of that time.  Of course, it wasn't that simple.  There were problems - huge problems:  A war, a depression, another war.  We were told there was nothing to fear but fear itself..  We need someone to tell us that again.  Meanwhile, the past indeed becomes the future.  Progress will continue, and we must be grateful for that . . . I think!