I’m really glad that Homerama was back in Rochester this year. I missed it during the three years it wasn’t held. It’s a great place to spend a summer afternoon because a visitor can do some serious daydreaming here. Homerama World is a place where everything is sparkling and every space unclutterd.  What would it be like to live in Homerama World? The colors of floor, walls, and ceiling of your home would all be from the same color palette. The house would have a theme, and drapes, shades, bedspreads and rugs all co-ordinate. There would be a law against dirty socks. A woman in Homerama World would start her day in a shower big enough for her whole family, the faucette set to her own specifications. She would select her outfit from a walk-in closet the size of Rhode Island. Her children (one boy and one girl) would have gender specific bedrooms that each open to a shared  gender neutral bathroom. Before dinner, she would select a wine from the wine refrigerator and fill the kettle for pasta from a tap of hot water above the stove. She would chop the fresh vegetables on a granite countertop. The family and guests would eat at a long, sturdy table in front of a wall of glass, a fireplace, and/or a wall mounted TV. After dinner they would adjourn to the media room where the serious sports/movie/concert programming would begin. That is unless they cooked dinner in their outdoor kitchen and sat around the gas jet firepit reminiscing about the days when they lived in a house that only had three bedrooms and two baths.

Homerama critics say that it’s a downer. The featured homes are totally out reach of your pocketbook, and you come home to find your own house looking like the city dump by comparison. That’s true, of course, but I like to think that going to Homerama is like reading a good book. For a few hours you can forget your dirty dishes and be transported to another world.I’m old enough to remember when summer afternoons were meant just for daydreaming. Take a walk through Homerama or sit under a tree with a good book. For just a few hours, forget your real life and dream a bit. Just imagine…