In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

16 Learning from Old Houses “The฀house฀talks,฀as฀old฀houses฀do.” —Gladys฀Taber,฀Stillmeadow฀Sampler Our฀house฀tells฀us฀not฀to฀worry about฀the฀weeds฀in฀the฀yard.฀It฀says, “Rain,฀driveway,฀corner฀cupboard,”฀says, “backdoor,฀hinge฀about฀to฀give฀in฀to฀rust.” And฀we฀listen,฀against฀a฀cracked฀window,฀along the฀paint-chipped฀banister฀leading฀to฀the฀basement, back฀among฀the฀canned฀tomatoes,฀in฀the฀corner with฀the฀week’s฀laundry.฀We฀walk฀through,฀nudging a฀book฀back฀into฀place,฀straightening฀a฀family฀photo. Dust฀now฀stays฀put฀along฀the฀edges฀of฀the฀stairs, shelves,฀dinner฀plates,฀in฀any฀corner฀of฀any฀wall, picture฀frame,฀mirror,฀in฀every฀crack of฀each฀ceramic฀elephant,฀angel,฀flowerpot.฀We keep฀a฀vase฀of฀fresh฀flowers฀on฀the฀kitchen฀table, change฀the฀water฀once,฀then฀pick฀a฀fistful฀of฀new blooms฀or฀in฀the฀winter฀bring฀some฀home฀with the฀cereal,฀coffee,฀prescriptions.฀The฀house tells฀us฀to฀go฀to฀bed฀early,฀reminds฀us our฀children฀are฀gone฀and฀we฀need฀to฀keep the฀thermostat฀at฀70.฀It฀advises฀us฀about฀the฀mail, the฀storm฀coming฀in฀a฀couple฀of฀minutes, and฀that฀the฀neighbors฀are฀changing฀their฀curtains, putting฀up฀their฀screens,฀mowing฀their฀lawns, leaving.฀It฀quietly฀lets฀us฀know฀about฀the฀draft under฀the฀backdoor,฀the฀mildew฀on฀the฀porch, the฀paint฀peeling฀in฀the฀entryway.฀We฀have 17 nothing฀to฀say.฀We฀stay.฀We฀get฀up before฀the฀sun฀comes฀in฀the฀windows, and฀we฀listen฀for฀our฀own฀slow฀quiet฀finding฀its฀place. ...

Share