GardenPages

Working with plants and soil takes us out of ourselves and our daily rut, letting us connect not just with nature, but with our inner child. And goodness knows, in these straitened times we need to remember, and embrace, the simple joy of simple pleasures.

I’m about to move into a new house. It was built, solidly, in 1923. From the outside it looks huge, but inside, inspite of the tall ceilings, the rooms are comfortable; they have the proportions of humanism. They do not dwarf me; there is no entrance lobby, no cathedral ceiling, just nicely proportioned rooms. I think the survey says there are some 1600 square feet to inhabit. We can do that — some day my husband will join (relos are not easy).

But what struck me most about the place are the built-in closets. One 2ft-wide door opens onto a space maybe 4 feet wide and just deep enough for a clothes hanger not to be squashed.

At our house in Des Moines we transformed one bedroom (and not the smallest by any means) into a wardrobe room. An entire room for our clothes. For our stuff. Is this progress?

It’s the same with food. We are agonizing over the cost of childhood and adult obesity. It is costing the us millions…because we have to have our slurpy cups of the HFCS-based sodas, our MegaBurgers on Kingsize Buns. Pasta served in a bread bowl. Ever listened to people (or yourself) ordering coffee…whipped cream, flavored syrup, blah blah. I know this is a tired old record, but looking at the closets in my new home and remembering my mother describe rationing during WW2…it doesn’t take too many brain cells to figure out that less can indeed be more.