All The Home Forum
- Chicken soup for the frazzled soul
When the world goes to pieces, I go to the kitchen. Cooking calms my rattled nerves.
- Please don’t buy my books
It wasn’t until I set out to sell my old books that I realized the precious memories they held.
- Hey kids, don't try this at home!
A childhood spent perusing DIY magazines ushers in a life of mechanical mishaps.
- Outdated? Patriarchal? Why I still celebrate the Hindu festival of love.
Though it’s criticized as outdated, Karwa Chauth symbolizes love and romance.
- Grizzlies and caribou and wolves, oh my! Savoring Denali’s delights.
We jumped at the chance to visit Denali. We were rewarded with a soul-stirring experience.
- What to do with a beloved shirt in shreds?
My favorite shirt was on its last legs, er, arms. But I wasn’t ready to shed it, tattered or not.
- Adventures in pie: A celebration of fall
The recipe for a perfect fall day? Making, baking, and gifting pies with friends – misadventure and all.
- My first trip abroad helped me appreciate home
It’s easy to find majesty in new places. Our work is to find beauty in the ordinary.
- Learning to stand – or ski – on my own two feet
A lesson I learned on the lake as a child – determination – helped me ski through life’s hurdles.
- How a half sand dollar taught me to be present
A trip to the beach with my children yielded a valuable lesson: when I relinquished perfection, I found presence.
- From ‘skrzypce’ to ‘syzygy,’ falling in l-o-v-e with spelling
Call me old-fashioned. I find satisfaction in learning to spell every word I encounter.
- Celebrating the drudgery – and enchantment – of summer jobs
It’s often said that experience is the best teacher. That’s why some of the hardest lessons in life can’t be taught.
- I learned to dream on a Nicaraguan chicken bus
I had anxieties about visiting Nicaragua. When I finally traveled there, I realized how unfounded they were.
- Our knickknack was a running joke. Then we learned it was precious art.
When the true value of a piece of family art is discovered, our writer learns that the memories of shared experiences with family are priceless.
- How I solved the mystery of the rickety home
History can vanish. We didn’t know what we were missing until Mrs. Kraxberger appeared.
- How my toddler reawakened my sense of wonder
When our essayist paused to see the world through her child’s eyes, she found magic in the mundane.
- To speak or not to speak? A case for holding my tongue.
Things our essayist regrets saying: “Anything I said to a girl in high school, for example, or whatever I was trying to say in German.”
- What I found when I finally stopped looking
I needed no convincing the wild native berry was precious. But despite my treks to the woods, it kept eluding me.
- My electrifying experiment in elocution
Today we are awash in a sea of language, but despite its abundance, very little attention seems to be paid to its refined usage.
- Chu Lai, Vietnam, 1966: My life lesson in leaping
"Our sergeant knew what lay ahead for us new guys – as well as a way to help us face that future," our essayist writes.