Category Archives: Reading

Like their Puritan ancestors whose banner they carried, these citizen-soldiers of Massachusetts were very clear about their purposes. They called to mind Oliver Cromwell’s plain russet-coated captain, who knew what he fought for, and loved what he knew. Many years … Continue reading →

The cubicle did not get its name from its shape, but from the Latin cubiculum, meaning bed chamber. A male Brown Thrasher can have more than 2,500 separate songs in his repertoire. Creede, Colorado, was named for prospector Nicholas C. … Continue reading →

It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal inequality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy. We had seen little men artificially held up in high places, and great men artificially held … Continue reading →

Writers come in two principle categories — those who are overtly insecure and those who are covertly insecure … Draft Number 4, by John McPhee We also saw the Golden-fronted Leafbird, a bright green bird with an orange forehead about … Continue reading →

The British had always loved sugar, so much so that when they first got access to it, about the time of Henry VIII, they put it on or in almost everything from eggs to meat to wine. They scooped it … Continue reading →