Episode 1
Wormwood, who lived in the basement, wouldn't leave when Ellen and I bought the big yellow house. "Wormwood" isn't a name which leaves a good first impression, is it? It sounds invasive and toxic. But Ellen Googled "Wormwood" and discovered that it's the common name for the herb artemisia. Presumably artemisia is named for Artemis, sacred forest huntress. The herb has antiseptic properties and is used to make absinte. The Wormwood I knew was clean but not antiseptic, was held sacred by no one, and would not move out of my house. As we'd hoped to do since we'd found out Ellen would be appointed chair of her department, my wife and I purchased the enormous mustard-colored house from Cufton College. The school had acquired Horton House forty years earlier as a bequest after a negative outcome from surgery to remove Margaret Hoople Horton's spleen. Though flimsy interior walls divided Horton House into three apartments -- two down...