On the wall of my hallway, where I pass it several times a day, is a big piece of poster board covered in photos clipped from magazines--a collage, and a rather messy one at that. Pictures of pregnant women, babies, children; gardens and gardeners; a passionate couple; pretty kitchens; the writer MFK Fisher; a woman's long, beautiful hair; women performing tai chi and yoga and exercising with their little children; art supplies. This is my treasure map.

There are times when I wish I had been raising my children during the time my grandparents were raising kids. I remember being told about how wonderful it was to be able to walk next door at any hour of the day, and find another mom home with her kids.

Now and then, life lands us in a really low energy place. Could be you're postpartum after a challenging delivery, or it could be, like me, that a sudden illness lands us in the hospital. It takes time to recuperate.

During that time, we simply don't have the reserves of energy that we're used to having. More physically active volunteer works, (like cleanup days) are, for the time, right out. Can't stand up long enough to make brownies for the bake sale? If you can sit at your computer again for a few minutes, here's something you can do.

As I write this, it is Halloween, the night before what many cultures around the world call the Day of the Dead--Hallows, All Souls, Dia de los Muertos, November 1st. In cultures that celebrate this day, it's a chance to reminisce about loved ones no longer with us, express our gratitude for everything they did for us when they were alive, and think about how much we miss them. It's especially important to remember those who have left us since last year at this time.

Lately I've found myself relentlessly playing Tetris on the computer. It's a game of manipulating a falling geometric shape into a row of other shapes with the goal of making a solid line of blocks. When the line of blocks is complete, they disappear and the player earns points for every solid row.

Growing up in a politically active college town inspired my lifelong interest in politics. As a teen and young adult, national issues had my attention, and I worked on presidential and senate campaigns.

Now that I'm a mom, my political interests have expanded beyond political parties and national issues. I am becoming more aware of local issues about the school systems and growth in our town. In both national and local issues, I have learned that there is power in using your political voice.

The other night, as my spouse watched the Oscars, along with many, many other people across the nation, I hid myself away in another room and played "Go Fish" with my kids. Watching those award shows just doesn't sit right with me. I find them uncomfortably pretentious.

While I do agree with giving entertainers awards--we all need some diversion from our everyday challenges and thankfully, there are people who enjoy diverting us--the manner in which we give these awards makes their job seem somehow more important than it probably is.

When TNH went "live" a few weeks ago [This was written in 1999--Ed.], I got a careful letter from a work-outside-the-home (WOH) mom who cheered the magazine and then asked me if this was going to be one of those stay-at-home (SAH) mom things that bashes WOH moms.

I told her, and I'm telling you, that's not going to happen here.

Any stay-at-home parent is busy, busy, busy whether she has one child or more, whether all of her children are under age five or they have all begun full-day school. For me, it's the busy-ness of my life that keeps me sane. I have never held a typical 9-5 job, save for the ten months shortly after I first married.

[Editor's note: Cathe originally wrote this article with Y2K in mind. Four years after Y2K it's still a good idea; just put "your most likely local disaster here" wherever you see Y2K.--Lynn]

No one says we have to be concerned about anyone but ourselves and you can choose that option. But if you decide you want to be part of your community, if nothing else, you'll be learning a lot more about the infrastructure of your community and the nature of your neighbors and that can't be all bad.