I started thinking about how the settlers dealt with light indoors because I found a spill holder at a market in New Hampshire recently. A spill holder is a container for sticks used to transfer fire from the hearth to an oil lamp or candle. Spill holders were usually hung on the mantle or near the hearth. There were no matches. So how did you light a candle? Or a fire, for that matter? Tinder. (I guess that's how the dating app got its name). The items at the right are

We all spend an incredible amount of time reading stuff: newspapers, virtual newspapers, emails, instruction sheets, surfing the net and occasionally reading an actual book. And we write a lot, too, even if it is using just our thumbs to pound out a message in lower case and full of abbreviations. Once in a while we may also write a long hand thank you note, too. So much has changed about the way we communicate with each other in just the last 20 years. I began to wonder wh