A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams

by Michael Pollan

“If this thing’s a temple,” Charlie said, “it’s a temple that wears a baseball cap.”

Most of the contractors I’ve met live in constant low-grade terror of the building inspector.

You can make concrete from scratch too, mixing the gravel, sand, and Portland cement (a powder fine as flour) according to the standard recipe (roughly, 3:2:1 for a foundation), but for a job this size Joe had recommended ready-mix, the Betty Crocker of concrete.

Long after the forests are all gone and “wood” has been forgotten, our buildings will still be haunted by trees.