Odd sort that I am, I practice a kind of voluntary and intentional dissociation in everyday life (call it day-dreaming) as a device for seeing the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Many story-tellers and writers use such a “lens” to view…
We’d miss them–even as we complain all winter about having nothing but bananas to go on our morning cereal. But much of the world’s population relies on bananas for more than a supplement to bran flakes in the morning. Millions…
Click the first image to open the gallery browser, then click the arrow >> to move forward and back. Just three images, so not much of a gallery. We figure as long as we can make it to the top…
You’ve heard the diet advice to “not eat anything that your great grandparents wouldn’t eat; or “don’t eat anything you see advertised.” From the Guardian, here’s one more reason to follow that advice: (and don’t think products on American shelves…
This marks ten years since I taught “Environmental Biology” at Radford University. One of my students chose to write about bird flu. I wondered why he cared if a bird sneezed. I soon learned that avian flu was one of…
I was a physical therapist for twenty years, and this meant being around people in pain. For many, their pain prevented them from being able to study, work, play or even think clearly. Fortunate, in one sense, were those whose…
Things are sunny and warm and bright and colorful and pleasant in this overhead shot from a walkabout last week. I need to remember we will still have some color, some warmth and un-blustery days ahead. (This will NOT be…
The dragonflies were a welcomed sight at my daughter’s house near Wilmington NC last weekend. Each day they eat hundreds of insects each as they patrol her yard on a hot August day. Unfortunately, they did not snag the one…
…and sneeze and gag and wheeze. (No cough, actually, but this is as close as I can come to a name for this situation.) Whatever it is, the dog had it when we picked her up from the vet’s office…
Never think your plate is so full that you can’t balance one more meatball up on top. Â You may not like it. You may not want it. But there it is, so get over it. Today, I was going to…
Younger grandson Oliver apparently brought home a virus from daycare, and offered it to his older brother, Henry.  Henry has enough problems without donated bugs from the community. But back he goes–for the second time in a week–to the hospital…
I’m doin’ the time. I’ve been facing this sentence, no pun intended, since my dermatologist appointment in August. But there has never been a two month break where being a freak of nature could be a private experience. There still…
Had some friends long, long ago who sought the magic mushrooms for recreational purposes. And come to think of it, they were some pretty laid-back dudes and dudettes. Recent studies find LASTING anxiety-reducing compounds  [link fixed  2012-12-10 526PM sorry!] in the psilocybe group…
HINT: Stay tuned to the end. After the gratuitous whining, there’s a SO WHAT take home. I don’t think I even mentioned here my SECOND medical happiness back in October (on top of the hand surgery). With the cast on…