My house stands on what used to be someone’s farm. Their home was here. Their family lived out every day on this land, under this sky. There were crops, animals, and outbuildings. Now, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of houses, here. Not much is left from the farm days but a few kitchy […]
Archives for July 2012
Farm Archaeology: Two Artifacts 
July 30, 2012 by
There are still active farms in Bolingbrook – complete with farm houses, barns, fields, tractors. But there’s not much left of the farm my subdivision now stands on. But I’ve noticed two things that offer a glimpse of our history: A section of wood fence, left behind because it was surrounded by a thicket of […]
A History of Cheap American Furniture
July 27, 2012 by
Some folks complain about the shoddy construction of IKEA furniture. But wait. Shoddy construction has a long history in American society. I ask you: doesn’t IKEA seem like a natural heir to an American legend: The Sears Catalog? Exhibit 1: Sears dresser (circa 1930? 1940?) Made of cheap wood topped with veneer. Styled to look […]
St. Benedict Was A Suburbanite 
July 22, 2012 by
The patron saint of my church is St. Benedict, who lived in Italy in the 6th century. He was one of the first people to organize a monastery that wasn’t eccentric or extreme. His monks ate three meals a day, slept in beds, and, although they went to church nine (!) times a day and […]
The RV Down the Street
July 16, 2012 by
Our neighbors down the street rented an RV. It sat in front of their house for a couple days. It looked like this: I’ve done plenty of traveling already this summer, but something about seeing an RV parked on my street got me thinking of winding roads, undiscovered places, and days ahead of you that […]
Tales from the Garden
July 6, 2012 by
Tale #1 – Heat and Drought We have a high of 106 today in Bolingbrook. 106! This. Never. Happens. My plants don’t seem to mind the heat, but they’re all a bit peaked because we’ve had so little rain. We don’t water our lawn (seems like a waste to me – almost none of our neighbors […]
