Mike McCarthy | Editorial Director | Log Home Living

I've always loved this holiday---indeed, it's my favorite. The 4th, appropriately enough, is the most democratic of holidays. If you adore freedom, no one gets excluded. We will watch our hometown fireworks surrounded by long-time friends and family. Earlier in the day, I'll march with the Little League team I coach in the local parade; then we'll head over to the firehouse, where local fire departments compete to hit targets with their fire hoses from 50 yards away----the kids stand safely beh… Continue

It turns out the boogeyman lurking in the economic shadows may in fact be a...toy poodle. A story in today's Washington Post notes that, while some consumer prices are up (gas, food), the U.S. economy is humming along nicely. Unemployment isn't what it was during previous recessions (and it's debatable whether we're even in a recession), and our gross domestic product, while not exactly buff, is at least fairly robust. So, what gives? Why are folks scared? And to bring it closer to this forum,… Continue

For me, the idea of a getaway is pretty simple: I don't need what I call the "Gucci Rustic" trappings of a mammoth home---plasma TVs and granite everywhere. Give me simple materials. I also like clean, open lines when it comes to design, and a communal space that leads to outdoor areas is es… Continue

I don’t count years to measure my life. I count epochs—dog epochs. It is said we might own six dogs in our lives and, if we’re lucky, they will teach us about the tenets of companionship and compassion. I am halfway there, having owned three perfect pooches. When I was 11, we raised a… Continue

My father-in-law likes to brag about his 100 acres in Wyoming. “I’m a land baron,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. “I bought that land back in the 1970s when it was going for nothing. Incredibly shrewd move, incredibly shrewd!” Ah, but don’t ask this f… Continue