To Give a House a Soul

Bones made of beams, the flesh of wooden boards, veins of electric wires, and a skin of paint: a house is a body. But what is a frame of sinew and bones alone? It is only a wall, a curtain, a ceiling, a room, the floor. It is a collection of inanimate objects bound...

Running Home

Each time that I stood on the starting line for my high school cross country races, it would strike me as odd that the finish line was 3 miles away, but also plainly in sight only 10 yards to my right. Most cross country courses are arranged in a loop so that the...

What I Would Say

She asked me when she came if I liked my new house. A kind old woman in a brown suit,  holding a large clipboard and a leather satchel bursting with hundreds of other case files just like mine. She offered me a lollipop, the kind a dentist would hand out. She offered...

A Foundation of Memories

Picture this: A cement foundation poured, a frame built, and walls raised. A fresh layer of paint rolled on, and a roof delicately placed on top; the construction of a house. The creation of a home is a little bit different. Instead, home is built on a foundation of...

Home as a Backpack

We lost our house in November. The insulation was that of a cardboard box with holes poked through and the window panes were welcome mats for intruding bugs and insects. Hot running water had been as extinct from the pipes as a dishwasher in the kitchen. Structurally...