We live surrounded in time by unavoidable, uncontrollable catastrophes. Depending on where we live, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and wildfires are just a matter of time. When they happen, they’re all over the news and for good reason, those of us who are not wiped out like to ignore those of us who are. Here’s […]
Our boy is back! Abstruse Goose was our go-to back-up for 100 years, then he unaccountably disappeared for another hundred. And now, with no explanation (and we don’t need one), he’s back amongst us and our hearts rejoice. This one you can figure out without knowing what Bayesian priors are. I know a little because […]
I grew up near stands of what passes in northeast Illinois for old-growth forest. The definition of “old-growth” is apparently a work in progress. I take it to mean a forest that was there before a particular part of the country was cleared and settled, and in northeast Illinois that was pretty late, around the 1830’s.* […]
April 30 – May 4, 2018 Sorry, this is late today. But I finished a hard story, the lilacs are going for world domination, the robins think they own the place, and I was unable to stay inside and type. Why is it that writing about people who are normally-good is so much easier than […]
This first ran March 1, 2017. I recently had dinner with the woman in this post. I wish I could have dinner with her every week — I can’t, she has too many other friends who also want to have dinner with her — because I want to study her, I want to see how […]
This first ran May 17, 2013. The running kids are thinking about college now and going to proms. I don’t see them running any more, not in that way that looks like they’re powered by lighter-than-air energy sources. That’s fine, they’re still astonishingly beautiful. And any racing around that needs to be done, the juiced-up […]
April 2 – 6, 2018 Nobody claimed Google’s Lunar X prize for going back to the moon, says Rebecca, and though China and India did/will get to the moon, “private moon exploration is a no-go.” Turns out going to the moon is hard. The lady in the log cabin whose collected stuff went up over […]
March 1, from the data-driven, unexcitable Capital Weather Gang: “On Friday and Saturday, a powerful storm will lash the Northeast with destructive coastal flooding, wind and heavy snow. It is shaping up to be the most destructive nor’easter of the season, perhaps the most destructive in decades for some along the coast. The National Weather Service is calling […]