“I Dare You”

In 1975, at my high school awards ceremony, in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, I received an award that made me uncomfortable. It was called “I Dare You” and the prize was not a scholarship, not a restaurant lunch with my favorite teacher but a privately published book written by one of St. Louis’

Thanks, Mariko Kondo

Mariko Kondo says if it doesn’t spark joy, dispose of it. If I were getting rid of fast fashion and furniture I might find it easier, but many of the things that take up space in my home carry more complicated baggage. Recently, I impetuously donated a chair that I had owned for more than

Faith

I recently spent about eight days visiting a good friend who is almost overwhelmed with the stress of her obligations. Her biggest challenge is taking care of an older family member who has been in a wheelchair for decades and is now suffering from dementia, cancer and depression … my friend also has an 11

Democracy

In 1867, The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry (usually simplified as The Grange) was founded as the first national American agricultural advocacy group. The beautifully simple community centers built by local Granges to host their activities still stand at rural crossroads. The organizational efforts paid off: In the 1800s, the Grange

Finally, adventure

This fall, I have been occasionally working as a substitute teacher at the local public high school. Chatting with a regular faculty member, I described it as an adventure. Half an hour later — slightly bored, watching ninth graders take a math quiz — adventure seemed like an odd word choice. After solving the quiz

My best life

My retired brother is enviably clear about what makes him happy. This summer he built himself a small camper for the road trips that are one of his greatest joys. He enjoyed the process of building the camper and a few weeks ago he headed out. This trip is expected to last almost three months,

Souvenirs

Imagine an immigrant living on a country road near Durham, North Carolina with her husband, also an immigrant, and four children aged 8 to 13, managing her household on a tight budget. It is 1970. She has a high school education, no other nearby relatives, and no longstanding friendships in the neighborhood. And she is

What to keep

Like the rest of the privileged world, I am decluttering my life. That even means my bookshelves. Some books are easy to put in the ‘donate’ pile (decades-old guidebooks,  literary fiction that I enjoyed but know I don’t need to read again) but many books fall in a gray area and so I am re-reading

Swimming against the current

Last summer, for exercise and pleasure, I swam laps across the Delaware River. The river is mostly wide and shallow in my area but I found a public access point where the water was deep enough to swim and, if I aimed upstream, the current would bring me roughly across from the landing where I

Ms. Fixit

Working with my hands is therapeutic after decades in a large bureaucracy. My garden is full of squash blossoms, small delicata and rapidly growing butternut squash, plus dozens of green cherry tomatoes. The thirty year old polyurethane on my dining room table has been stripped off and replaced by many coats of softly shining lacquer.