View From The Front Porch-Stan Hitchcock-November 29, 2012

I went to the "Whippoorwill", on the Square in Gallatin, Tennessee today for lunch with Loney Fred Hutchins, who owns the good business. Had some good music conversation with my friend, and then enjoyed some of the best Bean Soup I've had in a long time. Man, it was so good I had to have two cups of it with a gigantic salad. Y'all get to Gallatin, around Noon, or later at Supper time, stop in and visit with Loney and the gang. He keeps good, live music going most every night during the week and you just can't beat it. Loney is a natural born storyteller, and keeps me on the edge of my seat with his tales of growing up on a mountain in far East Tennessee. I'll tell you, the art of conversation and storytelling is an important art form and seems to be disappearing from modern society. Folks just don't take the time to sit and talk, deeply, to friends and neighbors like they used to. I guarantee you, my front porch, of the old farm house, in years past has hosted so many neighbor storytellings, and I think I'll take it up again. Shoot, just like everyone else, I run so much, hither and yon, thinking I'm so busy, and can't slow down long enough to visit and enjoy a friend? Well, I'm slowing down and stopping a lot of that so I do have the time, like today, to just leave the office and go spend a little time with someone I care to be with. I do my Heart to Hearts on television, now I'm gonna do it in real life, yessir, heart to heart front porch sittings, conversations, storytellings and Bean Soup sopping. I'm gonna help bring it back in style.

-Stan