All The Home Forum
- Too many figs! Or so I thought.I ate them. I made jam. I gave them to friends. I sold them. I grew desperate. Enter the Fish People.
Recalling close quartersOnce, my family stayed in a fishing cabin for three months.聽It was stressful, and our routines were upended. But I loved it.
Hannah and Kate put their chickens at easeBuying a home today is not for the faint of heart or slow of speed. But fortunately, steadiness prevails.
A books network in Zimbabwe is now a front-line virus responseMonitor readers still supply books, but now the group has found new purpose in helping communities prepare for the coronavirus pandemic.
Two crises, two gardensIn World War II Britain, my grandmother鈥檚 garden was a refuge 鈥� as is mine today during the coronavirus pandemic.
A listless lifeI鈥檓 not going to be sure I鈥檝e seen a 鈥渓ife list鈥� bird until it鈥檚 10 feet away and looks like a Victorian lady鈥檚 hat. But I鈥檓 OK with that.
Aunt Ruth鈥檚 photo philosophyMy aunt would return from trips abroad with a carousel of slides that captured the towns, countrysides, and especially animals she encountered.
Hung up on timeOur daughter was constantly checking her clock. Ironically, the pandemic brought peace after we took her timepiece away.
A gift that kept me groundedThe lasting value of my grandfather鈥檚 graduation present wasn鈥檛 clear at first. But over time, I've come to understand its pricelessness.
What is it about a fresh, warm bagel?It evokes childhood memories, it鈥檚 what expats long for, and聽it comes from just one place:聽New York City.
This is what freedom looks like, peopleMilk and garbage trucks once plied these unpaved alleys. Now look at them. They're almost impassable because the blackberry bushes have taken over.
Only the carrots were predictableA succession of farm animals taught the author never to expect any semblance of routine 鈥� except when it came to snacktime.
How a snack cake gave me a glimpse of the futureMy teenage son is prone to eye rolls and sassy comebacks.聽But an encounter in a parking lot showed me a gentler side.聽
The stuff of happinessGrowing up, I didn鈥檛 have much, so I remember all of it. And that may be a promise of future joy in my life.
My history on horsebackFrom a wild pony, to a mount too big to saddle, to Legend: All of my equine companions have a special place in my memory.
The game we playedMy father and I both knew what was really going on when I got him to shoot hoops. It wasn鈥檛 really about basketball 鈥� it was about the connection.
Making my peace with the desert 鈥� and a muleTo many, the desert spring where my wife and I live is remote and isolated. But to others it is a center, or can become one.聽
Do clothes make the student?I come from a more decorous time, when there were 鈥渟chool clothes鈥� and 鈥減lay clothes.鈥� How you were dressed might get you a job 鈥� or bar you from it.
Me, my garbage cans, and the spinning of the globeWind that whistles is a thrill in the Northwest, where I snuggle in my bed and contemplate the mighty motion of the atmosphere.
What goes in a suitcaseWhen I would 鈥渞un away鈥� from home, I always used to pack washcloths. But my daughter makes equally quirky decisions.