Early February, we checked into a hotel in Sarasota, Florida—and immediately felt we had wandered into an art museum that served breakfast. The lobby walls were covered in large, loud, slightly aggressive paintings. Not your usual “pleasant seaside with a sailboat” fare. These things practically shouted:“I AM IMPORTANT MODERN ART. […]
Not in the biblical sense, but performing impossible miracles. Mayumi is my Japanese niece. We’ve known each other for decades, and from day one she’s been bright, sharp, and funny. […]
AFTER GREENLAND, NORTH POLE, NORTH KOREA, THE WORLD Sunny people smile. They chat easily. They linger.Statistics show we Americans are headed the other way—toward grim, clenched-jaw seriousness. At this rate, […]
Beyond a shadow of doubt, we are a noisy, polarized, chronically dissatisfied people—especially when it comes to our leaders. Complaints are our national pastime, right up there with baseball and […]
86 years on, this is how I see a baffling topic Sex is the one subject we never outgrow, outthink, or get right. We spend our teenage years confused by […]
Henry Thoreau, John Muir, and Rachel Carson all heard voices.Not the alarming kind.The useful kind. The voices came from trees, breezes, tide pools, and long silences.You should probably lend an ear. Scientists now tell us that trees “talk” to one another through their roots, sending underground messages about drought, disease, […]