I was touched by Ana Maria Spagna’s essay, “Staying Put” (HCN, 3/03/08). As parents to two elderly-but-still-healthy, but nonetheless dependent and emotionally needy cats, we stay home quite a bit. And I’ve been hoping for a long time to hear someone in authority, or aspiring to authority, suggest to the American people that we might try to cut back on travel a bit – or at least ask ourselves once in a while, “Is this trip necessary?” I guess that’s a good way to lose votes – where is Jimmy Carter when we need him? At least he turned the thermostat down.

Sarah Doll
Lander, Wyoming

This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Homeward bound.

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