PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. – A pair of doves are building a nest in the eaves of our front porch. They picked a good view, looking straight out to the ocean. And they are very industrious, hauling twigs in their beaks and then working as a team to fit the pieces of their new home together. They work hard and with a sense of urgency. Spring is coming fast, and so are the chicks.

We know how those doves must feel. Of course our twigs come from Wal-Mart and K-Mart and all the other marts, not the scrub-covered dunes that separate our house from the beach. And we haul them back home in our truck, not our mouths. But the urgency is the same. The seasons are changing and the grandkids are on their way.

Despite our advanced years – Steve is 64, Cokie, 63 – buying a house and filling it with furniture is a totally new experience for us. Early in our marriage we moved often and lived in rented dwellings. Almost 30 years ago, when we returned from a tour in Europe, we bought Cokie’s girlhood home near Washington from her mother and have lived there ever since. So we don’t make changes easily or rashly.