All The Home Forum
- Watching for some good in dark times
We’d decided to sell our home. But first, we’d have to deal with two hugely overgrown hollies that have overtaken the front of the house.
- Prize, annoyance, memento: The many meanings of my jade bangle
Our essayist’s jade bangle has been a prize, an annoyance, and a symbol of lost opportunity. Now it reminds her of who she is.
- Uncle Cliff, found in a cup of camomile tea
Suddenly I’m transported to my grandma’s farm, where you could never be in trouble.
- Accidental meditation: Finding my peace in the moment
Yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s anxieties vanish for this essayist as she focuses on being present in nature.
- In Maine, a small secondhand bookstore soldiers on
An essayist ponders the necessity of a local bookstore, which offers the community so much more than just books. It affords a sense of comfort.
- ‘Not all has withered’: A poetry month tribute to Paul O. Williams
For National Poetry Month, we revisit the work of Paul O. Williams, a decadeslong contributor to The Home Forum.
- How an unlikely folk dancer found grace
When our essayist took up folk dancing, squished fingers, misplaced kicks, even torn clothing ensued. But he kept coming back.
- ‘That boy can see!’ How I found my way after losing my sight.
My guardians urged me to stay home because of my blindness. But I was determined to get back on the highway of life.
- The immigration debate is political. My choice to feed Martín is not.
Once, Martín told me more about his personal story: the long walk from Guatemala, being detained, making his way to Maine with no family or friends.
- Kindness linked us on the Mongolian steppe
My host family and I had little language or social experience in common. So instead, kindness linked us.
- Think you’ve got winter woes? I've got a slumpy frog.
Her boxwood salamander is 12 feet long, but few notice it. Still, she fusses over it when it snows.
- ‘We ring in the spring together’: Sharing the secrets of maple sugaring
Here, at the sugarhouse, a rite of spring has built a diverse community of common purpose and celebration.
- In Maine’s winter woods, I’m never alone
While I’m the only human on a snowy trail at times, I’m companioned by the tracks and signs of wild creatures.
- To each their own valentine
Writing a poem to your partner is one thing. But what could be more romantic than smoke-detector maintenance?
- Growing in the dark
Sometimes career plans crumble and prospects fade. But such “wilderness experiences” may be but vestibules to achievement.
- A warm transaction
If you know where you’ll be living in winter, the best time to acquire firewood is the previous fall. Using wood-fueled heat is all about preparing.
- Moments of stillness, in a city of millions
Mexico City is a place where you’re never alone – well, it used to be, before social distancing set in.
- In the desert, I find my way
Three years after the Six-Day War, I joined other foreigners at a program in Israel’s Negev, hoping to prove my independence.
- The lesson of the leather suitcase
Mom had slighted me. I was determined that I’d show her what life was like without me, and the old suitcase was perfect for my plan to run away.
- Unpacking Great-Aunt Gertrude’s plum pudding
As a child, I knew her only as the quirky lady with the odd gifts. It turns out there was much more.