Over at Commonweeder, writer Pat Leuchtman muses about the collection of tableware, glasses and tablecloths that have graced her kitchen table over the years. It's a lovely read.

And, having been lucky enough to enjoy many meals and good conversation at her table over the years, I can also say it's about hospitality and friendship.

It's funny to me that a generation of women who pursued careers, fought for equal rights for women and disdained the "tyranny of housework" would come to care so much and enjoy having nice things on the table. But we're complicated people!

I still hate housework, and I work 50-plus hours a week. But I also love setting a nice table for a holiday dinner, or even pulling out my  Wedgwood India salad plates on a winter weeknight after work.

Some people buy clothes when they travel; I buy tableware. It's fun to have a meal on the Wedgwood plates, which called out to me from a stack  in the bargain basement of Selfridge's, or the silky-glazed, colorfully-patterned bowls I found one afternoon with my daughter in a tiny shop off the big square in Sienna where they hold the Palio. Ditto for the big green salad bowl bought in Portland, Maine. They are everyday reminders of where you've been and keep alive the possibility of going other places.

And at the same time, they remind you of the pleasure of being home. At the table, with your friends.

As I look at this picture, in the foreground is a champagne glass, one of a set given to me by my friend Peter, who is also a table nut. I joked to him recently that the choice was brilliant, because champagne glasses are only pulled out on happy occasions, and that's when we think of him!

We're planning a trip to France this spring, and I'm hunting for the best place to buy beautiful tablecloths.

I'm going to bring one home for Pat and one for Peter. Don't tell them.

What's on your kitchen table? And why?

                                                                        --BJ Roche