If you've been following the serial about our house, then consider this post an intermission. Several friends have sent questions asking about the series, and I thought I'd step in and answer those, while also sharing the usual monthly tidbits and recommendations before the month of July evaporates. Tomorrow we'll return to the surprises in … Continue reading A few things: July 2020
It was more the things left unsaid than anything spoken. When we bought Jackie's house, we knew several of the neighbors on the block, had many friends in the neighborhood, and found connections at every turn. Two of my mother's close friends had grown up on this block, one a couple of houses to the … Continue reading Secrets and haunts.
"Hey, how about you come to dinner one night, and I'll bring out some good wine, and you can teach me how to make that chocolate soufflé. I'm dying to know how to make that." Here are the things I loved about my first apartment, a first-floor gem in an classic old, brick building, situated … Continue reading Prequel: A light in the attic.
It is a bright September morning, and the weather has broken (as it always does, if briefly, after Labor Day) giving a hint of fall. I'm driving slowly through an old neighborhood, tourist-style, looking from porch to porch, block to block. I see a friend working in his yard, and I call through the open … Continue reading Jackie’s house.
It is our 22nd summer in Memphis. It is time now, in the midst of a global pandemic, racial reckoning, and massive upheaval, to tell the story of our house. But the story of our house, our home, would be void of meaning without the story of how we got here. And so, to start, … Continue reading An ordinary marriage.
As others have written, America is a different country from what it was just two weeks ago. From dramatic local policy reforms to high-profile leadership changes, the collective response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Aubrey feels like a lasting seismic shift. But the shift, if there's truly been one, wasn't … Continue reading A few things: June 2020
Actually, only one thing. Because, in the words of my 18-year-old son, the world is re-making itself, and we're at the dawn of that time. It's fantastic. And terrifying. In this fantastic, terrifying time, I have a specific request for my white friends and readers: Take a few quiet minutes, all by yourself, and play … Continue reading A few things: May 2020
"Write it down," my friend said. We were sitting on my front porch, late one Saturday afternoon. I want to describe it as a gray and drizzling scene, with a thin ribbon of cool air riding a warm breeze, the signal of oncoming weather. In truth, I can't remember this particular detail. The day may … Continue reading Write it down.
