From our dining table we can watch the sun rise and set, the moon wash the city in its blue light, track the planes on the way to Hobby Airport and watch the clouds drift and build like mounds of soap bubbles in the kitchen sink.  We look for satellites, count stars, and wonder if [...]

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I was trying to settle Carmen down a little bit this afternoon.  She didn’t sleep well last night and by lunch she was picking at her sandwich and wailing at the slightest misfortunes.  We rocked and snuggled downstairs while she tossed and turned, searching for sleep.  I checked the clock and wondered how to best [...]

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Photo collection of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies, eggs, and caterpillars on Zebra Hollyhock (Malva sylvestris). Note how tiny the caterpillars are, at about 24 hours old, compared to the adult.

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We have something nasty at our house.  The flu?  A really bad cold? C&D are spending a lot of their time horizontal on the furniture or even on the floor.  (But not the bed . . . too many connotations of sleep there!)  I totally understand—I’m sick, too. Now and then, though, we all have [...]

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With an airy, open plan, high bar, sleek kitchen, private patio and sunny windows, our house was designed in 1981 as a super-hip bachelor pad.  Nearly thirty years later, it’s now a cozy house for a family of four. The living space is located on the second level of the house.  With the kitchen, the [...]

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Yesterday Carmen found a board book in the cabinet.  It had magnetic pages and a box of magnetic letters affixed to the last page.  She insisted on using it that very moment.  I set out the letters and opened the book.  After copying the word “apple” from the book, she looked at the pictures and [...]

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I have access to three large libraries, with interlibrary loan (ILL) access at two of them.  For the time being I also have a Netflix account. But despite so many books, CDs, and DVDs available to me through these libraries, I still can’t borrow all the books I want to read, all the CDs I [...]

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