Health, Fitness and Style

Ferida Wolff writes: Who would have thought that hair could be so opinionated? It used to be reasonable, letting me do pretty much what I wanted with it. But then I guess we change in many ways as we age. Ideas we held in our twenties shift with experience and perspective. Foods we loved as teens often become indigestible later on (gluten sensitivity and lactose intolerance have become watchwords for a more mature generation). more »

Roberta McReynolds writes: Once upon a time there was an imperial matriarch who reigned over the Kingdom of Chaos. The queen presided with a stubborn ferocity and insisted on fortifying her castle walls with buttresses of cardboard boxes bursting at the seams with mystifying collections. Here’s the plain truth: your 1942 phone bill is not a valuable antique. No one in your family wants to inherit it. more »

When the seed catalogs arrived in the mail, I handed them to Tommy. Instead of snatching them, he pointed to the coffee table. I dropped them there. Later, when I saw him stuff them, unopened, in the straw basket on the side of the couch, I asked, “Too much work?” “Yes” was the nod. I wondered: had the lapses in his brain that ended his speech, also turned his cherished pastime into something too complex. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: We never had to struggle to learn how to fold a fitted sheet, because we never had fitted sheets. You could buy a house for about one-third the price of today’s car; and you could buy a do-it-yourself home permanent for about a dollar. Unfortunately, you couldn’t leave the house for at least a month after doing-it-yourself for fear of frightening dogs and small children.  more »