On the 12th of every month, I (try to) take pictures of the day, then choose 12 to post. It’s called Take 12. Here’s this month’s gallery: October isn’t a very pretty month in a garden. Here is my dead tomato/basil/pepper bed. Some marigolds still determined to hang on, but otherwise, everyone else is in […]
Farms I Have Loved 
September 21, 2012 by
This is a farm right down the street from our house. Well, sort of. It’s a couple miles away. An island of agriculture in a sea of Naperville suburban boilerplate. The farm interns always seem to look appropriately scruffy and disinterested when I come to pick up my veggie share. There’s also a wind turbine, lots […]
Birdhouse In Your Soul
September 3, 2012 by
When this birdhouse (only decorative) appeared on my block, I thought it was pretty cute. When similar little houses started popping up in trees all over the place – some looking like little barns, others like schools – they got a little cliche’. For our yard, I’m on the lookout for a birdhouse in the […]
Take 12 – August 
August 21, 2012 by
Not all taken on August 12, but thereabouts… (“Take 12” is a project to take 12 pictures of your daily life on the twelfth of each month in 2012). My desk, with calendars, church directory, thank you notes, a Sunday bulletin, cup from Subway, to do list, and various: The attendance count sheets we […]
The History of My Subdivision
July 30, 2012 by
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
