THE CONCEPT of hospitality thrives in the South. It's an inherent part of our identities. We fill our dining T tables with heirlooms and place flowers around our houses to help everyone relax and enjoy. For 20 years, I believed I had this notion well in hand. I worked at a design magazine called Southern Accents, editing stories about decorating, antiques, art, travel, and entertaining. What I didn't know then was that my education in gracious living hadn't really begun.
For most of my career, I had lived in a circa-1900s Arts and Crafts house that was perched on a hill and featured an imposing set of front steps. It was big, and my family used all three floors thoroughly. I loved my large dining room where we gathered for nightly meals and hosted lots of impromptu get-togethers. The interiors showcased pieces we had brought back from our travels plus fabrics and colors that reflected what some might consider a wandering eye-but I called wanderlust. During that time, I learned I had multiple sclerosis. Those words were devastating, but the impact in the first few decades following my diagnosis was minor. When work sent me to a city full of uneven and narrow walkways or a gallery or house above a shop, all the better.
These days, I study cobblestone streets and deliberate about whether the potentially harrowing experience will be worth the reward. Forget grand staircases; I look for easy side entrances. I plot out visits to botanical gardens and friends' homes ahead of time. These obstacles have not stopped me, particularly in our post-quarantine world where I feel more liberated as severe cases of COVID continue to decline. But that has made me think: How can I live my best life when I'm challenged simply by getting into the most desirable destinations? How can anyone?
Esta historia es de la edición August 2023 de Southern Living.
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Esta historia es de la edición August 2023 de Southern Living.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
