Every neighborhood has its pests. Whether mosquitoes, mice, wasps, snakes, or centipedes, pestilence is a nuisance. We once lived in a neighborhood beset with rats. Despite our great fondness for Mrs. Frisby and her NIMH friends, we are not rat fans. Scratching in the attic is the opposite of a soothing seaside breeze. When we […]

If life were a bike ride, the sprockets would serve its many seasons. Certain sprockets require strenuous effort, yet when we push hard, we gain distance. Others are uselessly easy when not needed, but they allow us to climb the uphill side of life’s Wolf Creek Passes without giving up.  Sprockets also reflect the type […]

When I was nine, my father built a giant sieve to separate stones from the soil. He wanted a lawn back where the yard was still piles of rubble from a construction project. At dinner that night he asked me to help him shovel one of the piles through the sieve. At nine, my idea […]