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I needed a fence builder. He turned out to be a rock star.Carpenter Grant is compelled to do excellent work.聽Even boulders erode, eventually. But integrity endures.
Seeking the right size for the next momentAttics, garages, and staying put encourage accumulation 鈥� it聽sneaks up like a silent invader. A big move spurs a purge.聽
Fly-fishing, silence, and common ground: A stepfather鈥檚 giftThe noise from the river precluded any conversation, and he made it clear that we weren鈥檛 here to talk anyway.聽
Driven to become an auto mechanicI drove my precious car 鈥� the one with one off-center headlight, no brake lights, no blinkers, no sideview mirrors, and no horn 鈥� everywhere.
I鈥檓 up a tree, and I like itSome adults look at a climbable tree and say, 鈥淲hy?鈥� When our essayist sees one, he says, 鈥淲hy not?鈥�
To fish is to live just a moment in the futureYour pole tip could bend in the next second 鈥� or in a second that won鈥檛 happen till tomorrow, essayist Murr Brewster writes.
In New Orleans鈥� Lower Ninth Ward, our garden grows a sense of placeWhen our essayist transformed聽a vacant lot next to his new home into a garden, he soon realized he would reap much more than produce.
Language lesson: A professor learns the power of praiseWhen a professor signed up to take an introductory Arabic class, he learned a bonus lesson: how to become a better teacher.- The air fills with similar songs, in different dialectsAn American transplant to Switzerland longs for familiar birds and bird songs 鈥� and embraces new ones.聽
Reflecting on the witness of a looking glassImages on a cellphone camera are one thing. But what if I could access the moments my mirror has seen?
I have two adopted sons: One Russian, one UkrainianA father of two adopted boys, one Ukrainian and one Russian, is thankful his sons didn鈥檛 grow up to face each other on the battlefield.
The lives my clothes have ledShopping in a thrift store merely to save a buck is like traveling to Florida simply because it鈥檚 warm. There is so much more to the experience.
Letter from the diaspora: Why Ukraine will endureUkraine 鈥� and its culture, its history 鈥� lives in the hearts and minds of people like my grandparents, my parents. And now it lives in me.
There is no ping without a pongIt takes two willing partners to play table tennis, after all, and two people with an equal stake in each other鈥檚 happiness to make a marriage.聽
For this family recipe, too many cooks were just enoughEvery time I make my vegetable beef soup, I鈥檓 reminded of the people who inspired each additional ingredient I鈥檝e added to it over the years.
Overcast, but not downcastAfter any random social gathering we end up with an umbrella or two. They belong to the newcomers, freshly arrived in the Pacific Northwest.
To learn to skate, you must learn to get up again 鈥� even 10 years laterInspired by Olympians, our essayist first learned to skate at 8 years old. Years later, she鈥檚 learning anew how to get back up after a fall.
The nuts and bolts of writing, but not nuts and bolts"I won鈥檛 even attempt to put together furniture from Ikea," Sue Wunder writes in an essay. Even handling a can opener produces eye rolls from her son.
How 鈥檅out them apples? My winter work ensures a bountiful fall.Apple trees are pruned when they鈥檙e dormant 鈥� which means I have to make a聽frigid climb into the canopy.聽
Wisdom, chaos, kindness, and pigletsActs of unselfish kindness can change a person from grumpy to gentle, or at least that鈥檚 what happened to my friend Mr. Fletcher.