I frequently post on Instagram about #frontporchlife as we have been spending so much time out front since the fall when we discovered August loves watching cars, people and rain. But front porch life really went into hyperdrive since the start of quarantine, so I thought I’d share something sweet that’s been happening almost every weekday morning for the past three months in our literal corner of the world.

Almost since the start of quarantine – which is officially three months this week – some version of this routine has been happening every morning Monday through Friday. Daniel leaves to take the dog for a walk, so I sit with August on the front porch to wave them off, and then end up sticking around to watch life happen around us. It’s been really lovely having random conversations with strangers who live in walking and running distance, waving hello to the same people every morning.

We have neighbors across the street who have an almost 5-year-old son name Sebastian. One morning, he heard August talking in toddler speak very loudly from our front porch, so Sebastian came out to say hi. And then almost every weekday since, Sebastian has come out and talked to us from his side of the street.

Many mornings, his parents also join him and bring him breakfast, so we talk to Sebastian on our side of the street (or even while standing in the middle of the street) while he eats breakfast at a table and chair set up on his lawn.

It was super easy when August wasn’t yet walking, but now that’s he’s walking, we don’t stay on the front porch for long. In pajamas still, we’ll wave off Daniel and Molly for their walk, hang out a little big on the front porch, and then go for a walk up and down the block, around the corner a little, and across the street to see if Sebastian or his parents will come out to talk to us.

Other neighbors also sometimes come out to say hello, and it ends up being a whole lot of conversation before 8 a.m. In fact, one neighbor, Luciano Fileti, is a professional photographer, and is working on creating a gallery on the exterior side of his fence. Our morning walks are often to pick up sticks or steal their mulch and check out what photo is hung up for passers-by to enjoy.

Our front porch mornings have been maybe the sweetest things ever, an experience that has helped make quarantine bearable. Maybe even my favorite thing to come out of quarantine. What’s yours?

Also, I’ve written before about our front porch in quarantine, which you can see here. See here for more about our neighborhood during this crazy time, as well as here and here on how we’ve been living during this pandemic.