When we first went to Afghanistan, we stayed in a guesthouse called Chez Ana on Passport Lane. It was a quiet street that began at the passport office on Salang Wat, and Ana’s was at a little crook in the dirt road. Ana was from Croatia, and she did what she could to deal with the hodge … read more Heavy metal
Category: Shelter
The structures that support us, how they protect us, and what is exposed when those give way. Travel as life experience offers dissolution of shelter, both physical and metaphysical – changes in time frames, cultural identity, architectural meaning, technology, tears in the fabric of society
Massage ex Machina
Brandon was like a massage Ninja. Smooth moves, silent, but he left an indelible impression. I hadn’t had a massage in a long time. I only had this one because I wanted Tom to get one. I’m too cheap with myself. Oooooh it was great. Oil with lavender. No pounding, but my muscles melted. Limp rag … read more Massage ex Machina
Four dead in Ohio
I was only 10 years old, but I remember seeing the newspaper front page with the story about the students being shot. The late 1960s were strange and difficult years to be a kid. Adults shouting at each other about the Vietnam War. My older sisters wearing “love beads” and going to “coffee houses,” which seemed to garner an … read more Four dead in Ohio
The cautious wren
The Carolina wren is a cheeky little bird. It produces song at an earsplitting volume, and will build a nest right on your front porch. At the cabin in Booger Hollow, we have a spot that’s been used by wrens for several years. The first year that we spent a week at the cabin, we … read more The cautious wren
Innocent fun
With all the problems I’ve had in the basement, I was starting to wonder if I had a gremlin down there. I am not referring to the ‘70s AMC car that was as ugly as the decade it was born. I’m talking about those demonic creatures unleashed on the American public in the 1984 movie Gremlins. … read more Innocent fun
Separate but not equal
The northern suburbs of Atlanta don’t actually end. They just hit the mountains and crawl up the sides of them. In nearly nine years that I’ve lived here, I’ve watched new housing developments fill in land that was farms and forest. The prices on the billboards run from “the $200s” to “the $700s”. All the … read more Separate but not equal
Old guys who can fix things
When Darren’s father got out of the truck, I was dismayed. This plumbing company is a father-son business. I was hoping that Darren was the father and that he was apprenticing his 20-something son. But Darren, in his late 40s, is the son. His father is 75. Now, don’t get me wrong. Donald, the dad, is … read more Old guys who can fix things
Don’t let this happen to you
The bath was hot, the lavender salts were fragrantly soothing, and I was truly relaxed. Ahhhh… CLANG! It sounded like something large had fallen over, but I heard it through the heating vent. I listened and heard a soft hsssss, like the heat had come on. I really, really want to stay in the bathtub. … read more Don’t let this happen to you
The secret to happiness and health
For 75 years, Harvard has been tracking a group of ordinary American men and their families. From the thousands of pages of research that this study entailed, they found out the secret of happiness and health. You can hear all the details in a TED talk, below, or … … you can read my summary here. … read more The secret to happiness and health
America’s houses
If you took yesterday’s Census quiz, maybe you’d like to know the answers. They’re at the bottom of this post. If you didn’t, it’s not to late to go back now and take it before you see the answers: Census quiz on American society Don’t feel bad if this quiz was a struggle for you. … read more America’s houses