In A Room of Own’s Own, Virginia Woolf says that women writers, in looking for inspiration and tradition, “think back through our mothers.” On Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about creative mothers, starting with own mom. Like many women of the Baby Boom generation, her creativity was often expressed through her work in the home and with us kids. She is an amazing interior decorator, and I remember her removing a shag rug and installing a hardwood floor on her own while my dad was at work. She taught herself to remove the bicentennial wallpaper (the prior owners of the house were really into the 1776-1976 celebration with eagles and flags on the walls) in the bathroom and hang new wallpaper, perfectly aligned and without air bubbles or creases. She decorated our family room walls with antique farming implements (a saw! a scythe!) and has created all sorts of flower and vegetable gardens over the years.