Nancy and I live in a lovely mint green house on the east slope of Phinney Ridge in Seattle, Washington, just west of Green Lake and north of the Woodland Park Zoo. When the wind's blowing just right you can hear the Siamang monkeys hooting and howling. Our house was built in 1954 by Chellis Easton, a tool engineer at Boeing; his widow Nympha lived there until her death in late 1998. We signed the final papers on the day after Christmas of that year. It's a perfect little 50s jewelbox in every respect.

I've put five tons of "Pennsylvania Blue Stone" (slate) in the side yard, in a series of terraces, a patio, and a pond, and built a fence of my own design around it. What thanks do I get? Raccoons. A family of at least four raccoons visits almost every night and dumps dead birds and other disgusting things in it.