"Home" means different things to different people, but almost always, those things are good.

Recently I wrote a column about a 7-year-old in Oakhurst, Calif., whose grandfather asked me to take part in her geography project.

I was to write in "Natalie's Journey Journal" a description of where I live (Las Vegas, of all places) and then send it to someone, who'd pass it along and so on, until next May, when it's due to go home to Natalie.

I agreed on one condition: You had to help. If you'd send me descriptions of where you live, I'd send them to Natalie.

So I wrote in the journal about life in Sin City, and forwarded it to a grandpa in Ohio, who was to write about life in the Amish country.

Meanwhile, the mail poured in like tourists at an all-you-can-eat buffet. At last count, I had received several bazillion offers to help with the journal.

It confirmed two long-held suspicions: First, I ought to be locked up without access to computers or carrier pigeons; and second, people dearly love to talk about "home."

Hundreds of you offered to help with Natalie's journal. Many of you -- from dozens of towns in more than 20 states from New York to Florida, Ohio to Texas, California to Oregon, and even New Zealand -- wrote at length about your families and your lives.

Here are a few examples:

From the Hudson Valley, N.Y.: "It will soon be autumn, and the leaves of the trees will turn all shades of red and yellow. My 12 grandchildren and their parents like to visit in summer. They swim, use the paddle boat, canoe and fish."

From Klamath Falls, Ore.: "People here make a living farming. We grow alfalfa, potatoes, strawberry plants, grass hay, beets and different grains. There are also many cattle ranches ... Klamath Falls is one of those towns where people know almost everyone, and families have grown up here for generations ... the kind of town you want to get out of when you are young, but come back to because you know it is the best place in the world to raise your family."

From Santa Claus, Ind.: "Here it is much like Christmas all year with streets and shops named for the holiday theme ... and three great roller coasters."

From Lake Hartwell, S.C.: "I was born and raised on a cotton farm ... picked cotton for one cent a pound ... there were three telephones, about 10 cars and very little indoor plumbing or electricity. Most folks came to town by mule and wagon and then only on Saturday ... the only entertainment was the local movie ... it cost kids 13 cents to get in. I started first grade in 1942 with about 12 kids and finished high school in 1953 in the same building with most of the same kids. It's been a pretty good life and I am glad I was able to live through it."

From Crossed Arrows Farm, W.V.: "We raise Nubian dairy goats. I milk goats every day at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.; make cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese and ice cream with the milk."

From Redding, Calif.: "On June 21, we had over 5,000 lightning strikes during a monstrous electrical storm ... started over 500 fires which took months to contain ... the air was heavy with smoke and many people could not go out without wearing a mask."

From Fort Smith, Ark.: "Fort Smith started as a pretty wild place with gunslingers, saloons and Belle Starr, but now it is a lovely quiet town ... We always have chocolate chip cookies."

Finally, from Alliance, Ohio: "Our country has so many different faces. You have the oceanfront land, you have green rolling hills, you have desert; but no matter where you go, people are all the same."