Zooming in on the photos contained in an appraisal of a nicely kept, but fairly modest rowhome, I espied in the kitchen a large cassarole with the foil cover bent open. I wondered to myself what has Jacinta* been cooking? Then I see one or two very small chairs and I wonder about the family who lives in the house valuated. And it's not just these appraisals but driving by picture windows, homes with four chimneys or moms loading kids into vans in the driveways or waiting by the bus stop with a stroller that make me wonder about how every family lives their lives. I guess I feel lonely for a settled-into house. A settled-into life. As my home gets dismantled, packed and put into storage, I wonder how our next home will work for us. I'd like to cook a big dinner again, soon.
*Her name rhymes with this.