My grandmother's house has two gates. The front one opens to the street and is used by guests; the back one opens to a path behind the kitchen. (11) For years I thought this was strange. Then one cold afternoon a fisherman came to the back gate with a basket of fish and some bananas. He did not knock; he called her name, and she answered from inside. I realized that the two gates were not about doors at all, (12) about who needs to be welcomed and who is already inside. (13) my grandmother has moved to an apartment with one door and a bell. She says she is happy there, (14) she still leaves the kitchen window open every morning.
A room is really just air with walls around it, yet the shape of those walls changes how we feel and even what we can achieve in a day. (15) People in a room with a high roof think of larger ideas, while a low room helps them work on small careful tasks. Light matters even more. A window on the east side wakes a person in a soft way, (16) the same room facing west can feel hot and heavy by evening. (17), people who build houses in this town have long put bedrooms on the east and kitchens on the north. Few families today can choose the direction of their block, (18) even a curtain moved by one meter can change a whole afternoon.