A Treehouse, a little you-and-me house

                  Sagar's  girlfriend was visiting from India and flying back on Friday. Could they come to the Treehouse on Tuesday?   Normally we don’t take guests at Fern Forest Treehouse during the week, but h ow could we refuse? I’m glad we didn’t. Sagar met Jahnvi through an ashram where they were practicing their religion of Jainism, one of the oldest faiths on earth. Tuesday evening over carrot sticks, hummus and apple cider (they don't drink alcohol), they told us about being Indian, being a Jain, and being in love.  Jahnvi is a civil engineer in Bombay, as she refers to her home city. Mumbai, the richest and most densely populated city in India, was renamed in 1995 because Indian leaders wanted a less English sounding name. The Indian word Mumbai comes from the Koli goddess Mumbadevi who defeated a malicious giant. Since Jahnvi grew up in the city where her father is in the real estate business, she...

It doesn’t pay to be an artist these days. I mean, it doesn’t pay —at least, generally not much. Kristen and Dave will tell you that. They were last weekend’s guests at Fern Forest Treehouse. Kristen is a video film editor in Boston currently working on a documentary film about how child well being is molded by the policies and practices that shape their environments. Dave is a musician who works at an insurance agency, his hours often melting into the evening. Painting by artist Rory Jackson (http://roryjacksonart.com)             More and more it’s becoming obvious that we’re living in a visual culture—much you see on social media are pictures or videos, and even texters are expected to send photos to illustrate their texts. Kristen believes pictures should tell stories. You won’t see her photographing her brother standing in front of Lincoln Memorial. She’d rather capture a broken salt shaker on the table of a B...