Directions for visiting your childhood home

1. Stumble inside, a little bleary and stiff from the car. Notice the warm glow of the wood and tile, the good smells of cooking.
2. Check the cupboards and fridge; catalog the snacks available for the weekend.
3. Survey the reading available in the bathroom--any good New Yorker articles?
4. Visit the long built-in bookshelves in the hallway. Greet old friends, consider re-reading a mystery or maybe a girl-meets-horse-faces-and-overcomes-adversity-wins-blue-ribbon story.
5. Check reflection in the bathroom mirror. Still more flattering than mirrors at home--why is that?
6. Go to bed in the darkest of velvety darks. Lie awake listening to the roar of crickets, tree and bull frogs, and the wind in the pine trees.