I grew up on a farm in western Ohio, and every summer I can remember watching lightening bugs from my bedroom window. But like everything else in this world, it’s complicated. First, most people call them fireflies. According to an entry in the July 7, 2017 Smithsonian magazine’s VIP newsletter by Jason Bittel, they are
I grew up during the height of the Cold War, when every home-improvement show we attended had a model bomb shelter. Thankfully, we won that one. But today we may face a threat that is even more insidiously dangerous. I’m sure you’ve heard the accusations that Russia was behind the email hacks during the 2016
Have you ever read about scientific research and thought, “Well, that’s a waste of time”? The truth is we never know where our ideas will lead. Benjamin Franklin was watching an early flight of a hot-air balloon when another spectator remarked, “But of what good is it?” Franklin replied, “Of what good is a newborn
Some people prefer the offbeat when they travel. (I’m trying something different this year; you’ll get a full report if I can pull it off.) I’ve just found something that appeals to those who also want to help the environment. It’s called SANCCOB — South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (https://sanccob.co.za/ ).
Recently I saw a picture on social media of a friend eating fish in some exotic local. Except it was a complete, whole, entirely intact fish. I had a similar experience in Greece a few years ago. Our tour group was taken to this quaint seaside cafe for lunch, and the plate set before me
Happy 4th of July! This year I’m reprising my poem about patriotism. I wrote it sometime about 2010 and posted it last year (and it’s in my book Some Poems About Life, available on this website), but I think it’s still apropos today. The Patriot Jerry is a patriot, he loves his country dear.
The June 2017 issue of the Smithsonian VIP Newsletter has given me something new to think about for this 4th of July. In the “Ask Smithsonian” section was the following question — Who was the intended audience for the Declaration of Independence? The answer will probably surprise you. The standard narrative of the Declaration of
With the 4th of July on the horizon, I recently ran across an interesting Revolutionary War story. Everyone remembers Paul Revere and his “midnight ride” in April, 1775, but Revere was only one of a number of riders, and he was captured. Such are the vagaries of history. I know history is much more complicated.
Here’s a word for today — sologamy. It’s defined by Google as “marriage by a person to oneself. It is known as a commitment that values self-love, and self-compassion. … It can also refer to a self-uniting marriage, that is a marriage without an officiant.” I first learned about this from a recent newspaper article,
Scientists estimate we blink about 20,000 and 30,000 times a day. If each blink is two-tenths of a second, that means we spend around 10 percent of our waking hours with our eyes closed. But why do we blink in the first place? A lot of people assume it’s to keep the eye moist with