“I am sure some of my readers are still puzzled by the immured sonnet form, which I invented (for better or worse!) in the late 20th century. The original idea was to have…

“I was not a climate scientist. I still am not. I am reasonably knowledgeable about climate science, however. As part of my ecological research, I have been studying climate science since I was…

  “Unpacking, I realized with growing horror that my wallet had been stolen: a sickening and scary feeling of bereavement. After twice hunting through my rucksack and recognizing the inevitable, I phoned to…

“Driving out of the zoo’s parking lot, a student from Israel exclaimed, ‘Oh, look! There’s a peace pigeon.’ It was a mourning dove, of course, and then I had to explain why it…

“If we read a few verses beyond our text for today, we find in Michal the voice of rage. She mocks David for his behavior. She is apoplectic because David uncovers himself, exposing much…

“As half of my brain struggled not to hate the highly social, carnivorous orca, I was reminded that some Northwest Native Americans regard them as the reincarnated souls of humans. This may be…

“Prospective visitors wanting a tantalizing preview of Anafi—without braving the 16-hour ferry journey from Piraeus—will find it without leaving Athens. On the steep northern slopes of the capital’s Acropolis is the tiny urban…

“When I go on dates, what I’m really looking for is an invitation into someone’s story for a little while—the way that happens when you’re traveling and happen to sit next to someone…

“Albert Einstein, upon growing tired of answering questions about his thoughts on relativity, once gave this response: ‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour.…

“I remember being visually arrested by what seemed like a wave of bright chrome yellow, back-lit by my beloved Greek blue and lit by a sun so bright that I had to squint…