"I hear with my eyes."


I had a stomach ache-faker on Wednesday and Kansas City received a foot of snow on Thursday so I have had boys home for five days.  Based on the contents of my pantry and refrigerator you might think we had a swarm of locust as well, except locust would surely wipe their feet when coming in from sledding.

The up-side of my work, which the boys refer to as "Find the Difference" as they catch me studying images on the computer so often, is that I can read a magazine or a design book and, waving them off, pronounce, "I'm working," and it works.

Curled up with Veranda on Day Two I had a thought as clear and sharp as the icicles hanging from the eaves.  I love to read magazines. This is why:

"All houses have a soul.  They speak to you.  They say, Do this, do that.  It's a sensibility I feel when I walk into a new space.  I hear with my eyes.  The day I moved into the lodge I had an enveloping, welcoming feeling.  It's the sort of house that as you put something in, it says thank you.  Nothing seems to annoy it.  It's a combination of taste and memory and a capsule of everything I've ever done: my parents' house, things I've picked up on holiday.  It all flows together in my mind and becomes a blur."

Designer Nicky Haslam has captured the very essence of it here for me.  So, I thank him and encourage you to not just look at the pictures, but read the articles.

Image, above, swiped from Mr. Halsam's site.  His home in the March/April issue of Veranda is delightful, but I am much too lazy to scan.

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