All The Home Forum
- When hills become mountains, and other life lessons from childhood
My old house and the public pool both seemed smaller now that I had grown up, our essayist writes. But not the hill in the park.
- Bats are cool, snakes splendid: I’m on the lookout for Sudden Dave
“Much of what people believe about spiders or bats amounts to slander,” our essayist writes. “We usually have to be taught what to fear.”
- How to roast your own chestnuts this winter
Hot-chestnut stands dot the streets of Basel well past Christmas, and it’s the one downside to spring to see them disappear.
- The presence, and the presents, of the past
As a young boy, I don’t recall us ever walking; we ran everywhere, because there was so much to run to.
- On having too little, too much, and just enough
We bought used farm machinery at auctions and kept spare parts for breakdowns. Whenever gas prices became an issue, we’d hitch up our draft horses.
- How I was tamed by a jungle of houseplants
As housesitters, we’d agreed to water the plants. But this was a little intimidating.
- On Thanksgiving and beyond, we basked in the shine of Margaret’s grace
My sister lived with daily challenges. We lined up to help change her life, for the same reason flowers track the sun. That’s how much shine she had.
- I welcome winter’s gift of repose
Summer in Maine is the time to prepare for cold weather. But when it arrives, there’s no lawn to mow or garden to tend.
- Intelligence is as intelligence does. Ask my dad.
My dad had something to say about traditional gender roles. Mom, it turns out, had some news for him, our essayist writes.
- From a stranger, the encouragement to keep trying
I was angry and disappointed. I’m sure the stranger’s encouragement was inadvertent – but it was on target.
- John Gould still waits to welcome you home
Even 80 years after his first essay ran in the Monitor, and 19 years since his death, John Gould’s stories reward readers abundantly.
- Pockets full of memories
In a previously unpublished piece that essayist John Gould wrote for the Monitor, he reflects on a pocketknife his father acquired in 1886.
- Wash, dry, fold, connect: How I found my center at the laundromat
At a big university in a new city, I longed for a sense of community. It came upon me unexpectedly in a lavender-scented laundromat.
- A John Gould Sampler
- Keepsakes and memories: Finding, in the clutter, a life well lived
Packing up to move abroad was a chance to look at the letters, scraps, and notes I accumulated over the decades, seeing who I was and how I’d changed.
- Solving the mystery of Clayton’s toxic legacy
Our old neighbor seemed to delight in illegally dumping his used motor oil. But what is that tree that seems to be thriving in the contaminated soil?
- Field of teens: Despite the bickering, a surprise win
I built a baseball diamond on my farm to encourage camaraderie among my nephews. Nothing quite went as planned, but one got a lesson in honesty.
- Tales from either side of the till
Two essayists reflect on the humanity and serendipity springing from – of all places – the lingering, long wait at the checkout line.
- Flops and wobbles: How paddleboarding taught me to be a kid again
In a burst of optimism, I bought an inflatable paddleboard and headed for a lake deep in the Maine woods, out of sight of potential critics.
- In the starring role of my dreams
It’s five minutes till curtain: Can I learn the song lyrics in time? Wait a minute – I can’t sing!