Most of you know my house. But I wonder how many of you knew it before Mickey and I bought it? It was hand-built by Harriet Bye and her then-husband in 1971. It had and still has some excellent vintage hippie architectural touches: a couple of hexagonal windows, a telephone pole as a support stanchion, two-by-fours laid on end to form the ceiling of the bedroom and the floor of the loft above. That little peaked arch into the kitchen —the house ended there, with a pair of sliding doors into the back yard. The original kitchen was a countertop underneath the window that has the pink and gold stained glass border. There was a sink there and a little stove. The room was dark wood-paneled, and there had been a fire in there, so much of the front wall was blackened. The yard was quite overgrown — so much so that when we took down a big rockrose we found a swing set buried in the branches. More interestingly, for some years after we moved in, whenever we would dig in the yard we would unearth stuff — toys, a ball, a spoon, one time a plaster buddha. When we bought it, the house was half the size it is now. We built on the present kitchen and bedroom, in the style of many Mendo houses — the original half charming old hippie handcraft, the add-on all square angles, formica and sheetrock walls.

The Israelites set out from Rameses and encamped at Succoth.

They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

They set out from Etham and turned about toward Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they encamped before Migdol.

They set out from Pene* -hahiroth and passed through the sea into the wilderness; and they made a three-days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and encamped at Marah.

They set out from Marah and came to Elim. There were twelve springs in Elim and seventy palm trees, so they encamped there.

They set out from Elim and encamped by the Sea of Reeds.*

They set out from the Sea of Reeds and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

They set out from the wilderness of Sin and encamped at Dophkah.

They set out from Dophkah and encamped at Alush…