I miss those days of lag time, of sitting on the porch swing with my grandmother, when large chunks of summer days would pass scarcely a word between us, her fingers caressing a rosary, me whittling a stick, the silence full and rich and comfortable. My grandmother was not long on advice, but something she told me, when my interest in romance was on the rise, remains with me still. "Philip, be sure to marry someone you can be silent with and not be anxious."
— Philip Gulley, Porch Talk