Airports clogged, news of arrests, tanks in Lebanon, hard rains up and down the East Coast (I’m still in South Carolina filled with irrational worry that water may have come in through some open windows at home that Mr. Chattering forgot to shut). In the light of big things, little irritations tear us up.

Here’s a wonderful piece by Alice Chasan on how repairing the world in the smallest of ways can help us get through tough times like these. I don’t know how she wrote it yesterday. I’m finding it hard to focus. Anyone else having a tough time staying calm?