By Robert Klose

The advent of warm weather here in Maine calls for a seasonal ritual that， for me， puts the exclamation point on winters end—fetching the wooden screen door.1

Note that I wrote “wooden.” The aluminum2 models just wont do it—they close too neatly and retain their perfect form for decades. But I came of age3 in the 1960s， a time of imperfection. There was no perfect house， no perfect car， no perfect kids or parents. Why should a screen door be an exception？

I grew up with my siblings in a working-class neighborhood in urban， industrial New Jersey.4 When the warm weather arrived， my dad would go out to the garage，haul out the wooden screen door， and install it over the back door， which could then be left wide open， admitting a refreshing breeze （we had no air conditioning）.5

My father was a Mr. Fix-it par excellence， so keeping the screen door serviceable was one of his indulgences.6 Every few years he gave it a fresh coat of paint（picket-fence green）， reinforced the rickety joints， and patched the screen with Scotch tape.7 I distinctly remember him putting the last screw in the last hinge，8 stepping back， and swinging the door shut with a solid， woody “crack！”

A good， rattly， wooden screen door， unsightly as it was，9 had an invaluable function in the age of the stay-at-home mom： It alerted her to the coming and going of the kids （at a time when children played outside）. I dont have to close my eyes to see myself， my siblings， and my friends running in and out of the house， tearing the screen door open and letting it slap shut behind us. Ten times a day？ Fifty？ A hundred？ It was all good， and my mom never complained about the noise， because that was the purpose of a wooden screen door—to slam shut and thereby announce that her children were within earshot.10

Flash forward： Several years ago， in a fit of nostalgia，11 I went shopping for a wooden screen door. I was disappointed in the choices available.They looked a bit too solid， too well made. But I found one online， and within a week it was delivered to my doorstep.

The firm had sent me one with the wrong dimensions12， however—too wide and too tall. So I asked my carpenter to make the necessary adjustments. Ozzie worked away at it for a couple of hours until he got it to sit neatly in its frame. I stood back， looked it over， and then gave it the acid test13： I pulled it open and let go. It closed in a lazy fashion14， like royalty lying down on silk sheets.

“Not good，” I pronounced. “No slap factor. Please remove the automatic door closer and adjust the door so it swings shut with a good crack.”

Ozzie rolled his eyes. “But Ill have to change the set of the hinges and shave some more off the bottom to get it to close like that.”

“Please proceed.”

I watched as Ozzie grudgingly went about his work， emanating a clear sense that our values were at odds.15 Be that as it may16， a short while later the task was done. We both stepped back and looked it over. The door was slightly askew， uneven in its frame， and the screen no longer lay flat.17 But when I pulled open the door and released it， the thing clapped shut like a rifle shot.

“What do you think？” I asked.

“It looks like hell，” said Ozzie.

“But it sounds like heaven，” I said. And I， being the owner of the door—and the memory—had the final word.

1. 在緬因州，夏天的到来离不开一种季节性的仪式，在我眼里，这种仪式总能为冬天的结束画上一个惊叹号，那就是——拿出家里的木纱门。the advent of： ……的到来；Maine： 缅因州，美国东北部新英格兰地区一州；ritual： 仪式，惯例；exclamation point： 惊叹号；screen door：（防止蚊虫进入的）纱门。

2. aluminum： 铝。

3. come of age： 达到法定年龄，成年。

4. sibling： 兄弟姐妹；New Jersey： 新泽西州，位于美国中部，是人口密度最高的州。

5. 当天气转热时，父亲就会去到车库，将纱门从里面拖出来，然后把它装在后门上，这样后门就能随时大开，时刻保持通风了（那时我们还没有空调）。haul： 拖，拉。

6. 父亲非常热衷于修理，且技术高超，于是，确保纱门正常工作成了他的一个嗜好。par excellence： 出类拔萃的；indulgence： 嗜好。

7. 每隔几年，他就会给纱门重新上一层涂料（就是尖头栅栏常用的绿色），同时对不牢固的连接处进行加固，并用透明胶带给破损的位置打上补丁。picket-fence： 尖桩栅栏；reinforce： 加固，增强；rickety： 松垮的，不牢固的；patch： 给……打补丁；Scotch tape： 透明胶带。

8. distinctly： 清楚地，明显地；screw： 螺丝；hinge： 铰链。

9. rattly： 格格响的；unsightly： 难看的，不雅观的。

10. slam： 砰地关上；earshot： 听力所及范围之内。

11. flash forward： 提前叙述未来事件，闪前；a fit of：突发的；nostalgia： 怀旧之情。

12. dimension： 尺寸，大小。

13. an/the acid test： 严峻的（真正的）考验。

14. fashion： （做事的）方式，样子。

15. grudgingly： 勉强地，不情愿地；emanate： 表现出；at odds： 不一致。

16. be that as it may： 尽管如此。

17. 由于门框不平，整个纱门微微倾斜着，使得纱网也皱皱巴巴的。askew： 歪斜的。