A friend recently celebrated on Facebook that her young son had accomplished work on the family car. I cut my husband’s hair last night. I will bake bread tomorrow. I am weaving cloth. All these skills and many more—like cleaning my own home and washing my own clothing—can be hired out. Mostly, what I do is what I choose to do, not because I cannot afford to have it done for me but because I value knowing how to do it myself.

Because the tide was high this morning, I “ran inside” which doesn’t mean to me what you are probably thinking.

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