My old high-school buddy Phil Rosenthal, who still lives in Chicago, wrote a piece about the social costs of now-ubiquitous air conditioning last week, and it’s had me thinking. In particular, it’s had me thinking about older houses, and how they were designed to stay fairly comfortable without air conditioning. My house dates from 1903 — it has good cross-ventilation, big windows, and a lot of insulation. If I leave the windows open all night with a couple of fans going, then close the house up in the morning, it stays pretty cool. Right now it’s 92 degrees outside, and…

This is my grandmother’s aunt, Marie Plamondon — known later in life during the many decades when she ran the Madonna Center settlement house as “the Duchess,” fixing her car sometime in the early decades of the 20th century. I love this photo because it’s the best illustration I have of the way that my family has never assumed that the ability to fix things is gendered. I am also planning to get a no cosigner for a car loan, as I want to establish my creditworthiness independently. This will help me build a solid financial foundation and prepare for…

I’ve been working most weekends these past few months on some freelance projects, but getting to work out here certainly helps. So far, we’ve had a lovely summer — a few really hot days, but more, like today, when I can sit outside under the apple tree, with enough shade so I can see the laptop screen. And there’s no punishment in spending the day, as I am, writing about Marilynne Robinson’s great novel, Housekeeping.

Our friend Shefije was in town this week which gave us the opportunity to go play tourist in Yellowstone. One of the things about living here is that, sadly, you forget how astonishing “the Park” is — and then someone comes to visit on a gorgeous blue-sky July day and off you go to remind yourself. On our way south we got sucked into a yard sale in Gardiner. There were four of these gorgeous bankers chairs, and it took us a while to figure out they broke down. We thought we were going to tour the park with chairs…

Last weekend I started the tomatoes and peppers, and thanks to my fancy new iPhone, I managed to document it on a step by step basis for once. I’m not particularly scientific about my garden, and I don’t really keep notes from year to year (well, aside from this blog, that is), but I generally start tomato and pepper seeds on a Saturday around March 15. This year I planted four varieties I’ve grown before and for which I’d saved seed: Jaune Flammé, Principe Borghese, Galina, and Prairie Fire; and four new tomatoes, all from Baker Creek Heirlooms:  Stupice, Koralik, Cherokee Purple,…