The weight of my books

I’ve been through a lot with my books. They moved across the country from Ohio to Seattle, across the Pacific Ocean to Dubai, then at last across the Atlantic and up the mountain to our house. Between Tom and I, we have many hundreds of books. One of the things we loved about Azalea was the … read more The weight of my books

Drawing near the hearth

It’s gotten bitterly cold at night. I can’t wait to be back in my basement office at Azalea. The temperatures there plummet every winter. The corner where my desk sat was the coldest square footage in the entire house. Using a thermal gun, I learned that this corner was 10 to 12 degrees colder than Tom’s office. I poked … read more Drawing near the hearth

Random beauty

Some days the beauty is unstoppable You just have to stop for it It began early, with the mist enfolding the newly naked trees That would have been good enough for the whole day The mist lifted, and I drove to our house, where the new roof is being put on this week… In the past, I’ve been … read more Random beauty

Poverty amid plenty

I am taking a video inventory at the rental house, in case it burns to the ground. My voice is clinical and flat as I pan the camera around each room, peering into cupboards, narrating. Here in the kitchen, we have an electronic food scale and a manual scale, we have pots and pans brought … read more Poverty amid plenty

Where there’s smoke

The Appalachians are on fire. I am on my hands and knees, collecting documents that are irreplaceable before we evacuate. I’m fighting to think straight, control the panic. Acrid smoke has been hanging around our mountain community for days now, chased by strong winds from the wildfires in western North Carolina and northwest Georgia. The Rough Ridge … read more Where there’s smoke

The bed’s too big

When we’re staying here in the rental house, I think of Joni Mitchell’s song “My Old Man“: But when he’s gone, me and those lonesome blues collide, the bed’s too big, the frying pan’s too wide… Even when my old man’s here, the bed’s too big. And too wide. Because it’s a king, not a queen. … read more The bed’s too big

That high-pitched noise

The noise started when the heat came on last night. A high-pitched tone that could only be from something mechanical. The kind of noise that makes me crazy. The heat didn’t come on. The registers were blowing cool air. I waited for the air to get warmer. It didn’t. I turned the thermostat’s heat switch … read more That high-pitched noise