The Hallway That Finally Got Decorated
For eleven years the hallway between our kitchen and the back door stayed bare. It took my daughter asking why it looked so sad to finally change that.
The Wobble in the Third Leg
Our kitchen table has had a wobble in one leg for over a decade. I keep meaning to fix it properly, and keep finding reasons why the folded matchbook underneath is fine.
Repairing My Grandfather’s Chair Instead of Replacing It
My grandfather’s chair sat in my parents’ garage for six years before anyone did anything with it. It was a ladder back chair, oak, with a woven rush seat that…
A Key That Does Not Belong to Anyone in Particular
There is a key on a hook inside our garage, unmarked, that fits our back door, and it has been there so long I could not tell you exactly how many people know
The Kettle Goes On Before Anything Else
Before anything else in the morning, the stovetop kettle goes on the back burner, and the ten slow minutes it takes to boil have quietly become the hinge the rest of the day swings on.
The Cutting Board I Sanded Down to Nothing
I decided to make my own cutting board out of a stack of maple offcuts Sal had been saving in the garage, and I sanded straight through the first attempt before I learned to slow down.
The Way We Argue About Directions in the Car
Every family, I think, has at least one habit that looks from the outside like a flaw and feels, from the inside, like a kind of affection. In mine it is…
Easter Morning Before Anyone Else Is Awake
There is a basket in my front hall closet that gets pulled out exactly once a year, woven from a pale straw that has gone a little flat on one side from being s
Swapping the Mantel Photos with the Seasons
My grandmother swapped a few photographs on her mantel with the seasons, without ever announcing it. Years later I finally understood why, and started doing it myself.
Setting the Table for One
When my last child moved out, I stopped setting the table for a while. Here is how I learned to sit down properly again, even with just one plate.