Slow Housekeeping: Our Love Affair with Home

--> I’ve spent the last five years writing about the importance of home and now mine is under siege. We've got fires to the north and fires to the south, and we're about to see a whole new wave of displaced Californians.   In Butte County, over 27,000 residents watched as the town of Paradise burned.  Flames fanned by the Santa Ana winds have already destroyed some 75,00o homes near Los Angeles.  Where will all these people go?  This is the worst fire season in our state's entire history.  Disasters like this only widen the income gap, knocking a lot more people to their knees.  To make matters worse, a United Nations expert on housing just branded California's treatment of the homeless "cruel and inhuman."  Investigator Leilani Farha visited San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley on a world tour of homeless enclaves in Belgrade, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Lisbon, Mexico City, Mumbai and Santiago. She chastised Califo...

--> What happens when we lose touch with the people and places we love most?  When we have no access to our cherished memories?  During the big wave of immigration in the 19 th century, homesickness was pervasive. It was also soul-destroying.   In fact, it took such a toll on the newcomer's health it was regarded as a serious medical condition.   “Homesick” meant depressed, moody, melancholy. It was associated with lack of energy and engagement.   A general wasting of the body and the spirit.       Relocating meant severing all ties with one family and homeland, and during this great era of resettlement, America was awash in homesickness.   One of the hardest things for immigrants was the loss of family talismans.   Certain possessions quietly affirm who we are and what we value. They reflect our culture, bolster our sense of identity, anchor us in time and place.   Without them, we may grow disori...

--> What happens when the world goes haywire? Last week I heard from a young man in Gaza who’d just been bombed out of his home.   Fadi collects money on Facebook and distributes food and clothing to his neighbors. He also runs a campaign to put solar panels on the roofs of nearby houses. Since the power plant was nearly destroyed, his community has three hours’ worth of electricity a day—not enough to wash and cook and read by.   Fadi has lost three friends in the last few months; he is trying to finish high school so he can apply to college and hopes to study medicine.   But right now he doesn’t have a place to read or do his homework.   From the videos he posts it looks like he is living on a vacant lot, no roof over his head, his only resting place, an old deck chair. As I corresponded with Fadi (and tried to find a refugee organization that might be of help), I realized how much we take for granted here in the US.   The running wa...