~~ HE WAY WE BOUGHT OUR
house in the country would have
i turned the blood of any expert in
home-buying to glacial ice. We had
read some dozen books of advice
and hundreds of pamphlets， it is
true， and we did know that a place
advertised as having deep maple
shade had no plumbing. Old colo-
nial with five fireplaces， Dutch oven， old hardware， usually
meant the roof was falling in and dry rot eating the bones
of the timbers. Trout stream indicated half of the yard was
a SWalTip.
Jill had warned me against being too impulsive， a house
once bought was solid and tangible as asset or as liability.
It also involved mortgages. All I knew of mortgages was
that in stories they were always about to be foreclosed and
the hero stepped in and saved them.
Jill spoke of upkeep too， in hushed tones. And taxes.
But we went on dreaming. At the time our family con-
sisted of Bob， my husband， Cicely， my daughter， Jill， my
sister， and Jill s two children， Don and Dorothy. And Star，
Sister， and Rip， the three first family cockers. And one large
tank of tropical fish. The children were little， Don being
the baby of the family.
We had apartments in New York， and Bob and Jill
worked while I was what we always called an idle house-
wife. Looking back on that period it seems to me I was al-
ways standing at the corner by Riverside Church waiting
for Don to emerge in his blue bunny suit to be escorted to
his home， or standing at the corner of West 108th waiting
for Cicely to emerge in her red coat from P.S. 165， or stand-
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