Love in war WORLD WAR II was the great abiding fact in the lives of my parents and me. As an only child, I soon realized that our relationship was an eternal triad: three loving and competing and needing forces. And the whole thing gets going with World War II. Henry S. Sime

Columns

Letter from Peru I’M IN THE beautiful cloud forest of the Peruvian Andes where I am helping a nongovernmental organization study and protect the yellow-tailed woolly monkey. It took me a bit of time here to finally see this critically endangered monkey. But I am thrilled to say that I have seen the monkeys, and I’m writing to share a bit of that marvelous experience with you. Keefe Keeley

No picking please Q: I HAVE LARGE ice dams on the edge of my roof. What can be done to prevent them? Do I need a new roof? David Romary

The mother-daughter bond LET ME STATE up front, this is neither a how-to column on parenting nor one on technology. As a 40-something mother of two teenagers, it’s all I can do to keep up with the latest developments on either front. Watching me navigate my days, one would assume my degree in both fields was issued by the Learning Annex. In other words: Don’t try this at home. Leigh Anders

Make the most of the dark AS THE LONG winter lopes on through the early months of the new year, as the nights get shorter, and the days longingly and imperceptibly longer, an appreciation for the darkness grows in me. Perhaps it is the promise that the thaw and the light, though still far away, are coming toward us that allows me the breathing room to enjoy the cold and the dinners in the dark. Matthew Voz

Winter: for the birds I’M IN THE beautiful cloud forest of the Peruvian Andes where I am helping a nongovernmental organization study and protect the yellow-tailed woolly monkey. It took me a bit of time here to finally see this critically endangered monkey. But I am thrilled to say that I have seen the monkeys, and I’m writing to share a bit of that marvelous experience with you. Daniel Peak

Arts

Chela lets go CHELA REMEMBERS THE excitement she felt at six years old, when she first painted with watercolors. Taught by a friend of her mother’s, at her home in St. Paul, Minnnesota, she learned early the value of good brushes and high-quality paper. Kate Fitzgerald

Hey, artist. Yes, you! RECENTLY, I URGED a friend to take a painting class, just for fun. He gave me a blank stare, then shook his head. “No,” he said, “I’m not an artist.” Leigh Jardine