The first time I saw Lake Louise, several years ago, its beauty stunned me. Recently I visited it again, and the effect was the same: if it’s not the most beautiful spot on Earth, it’s darn close. What created Lake Louise still hangs above it: a mighty glacier. A drive along the spine of the …
Category: Blog
Home runs
It’s World Series time again, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting one–but for me, nothing can equal the excitement of the 1909 Series. I remember it like it was yesterday. The smell of the grass, the roar of the crowd, as I made my way to the mound to start for the Detroit …
Skunks
There are lots of good things to smell in the summertime: flowers, steaks on the barbecue, fresh-cut grass. But there are also other, less fortunate smells: hot wet dog, five-day-old roadkill–and skunk. My personal experience of the smell of skunk has been limited to a whiff of that inimitable scent wafted on the breeze, …
Spam
Few things equal the thrill, when you first get an Internet account, of receiving e-mail. But it’s not long before the thrill gives way to annoyance, as you discover that much–sometimes most–of the mail you receive has subject headings like “Get Rich Fast!” or “XXX HOT BABES XXX”. Yes, just like your regular mailbox, …
Sputnik
This Saturday marks the 40 anniversary of one of the most pivotal events in 20th century science: the launch by the late Soviet Union of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Nowadays, of course, we take satellites for granted: we see photographs taken by satellites every evening on the news, we watch television signals …
The world land speed record attempt
Right now, on a dry lake bed in Black Rock, Nevada, two teams are locked in a fierce competition. Using exotic, jet-propelled vehicles, they’re striving to break the sound barrier–on land. In the process, they’re pushing technology to its limits. What makes the competition even more interesting is the contrast between the two teams. On …
Tea, revisited
I drink a lot of tea. In my family, every meal except breakfast was accompanied by a tall glass of iced tea, and today, I almost always have a glass of iced tea at hand when I’m watching TV, reading, or writing this column. Which means that recent studies touting the health benefits of …
Asthma
Most of us breathe without even thinking about it. In and out, in and out, the air moves easily and effortlessly. But there are millions of people for whom breathing can never be taken for granted, and their numbers are increasing: asthmatics. Asthma is a narrowing of airways in the lungs that causes coughing, wheezing …
Learning
It’s September, and that can only mean one thing: the Roughriders are losing. Oh, all right, TWO things: the Roughriders are losing, and kids are back in school. School, in theory, is where we learn what we need to know to be a useful member of society. How these things are taught has changed drastically …
The ocean
I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean: the endless rolling of the waves, the water’s changing moods, the limitless horizon. Or maybe it’s just because, coming from the dry prairies, I’m amazed that anything can be that big and wet. How big and wet? The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface: 361 million …
Lightning
Maybe it’s because, in the last couple of years, I’ve taken up golfing, but I’ve become increasingly fascinated by lightning. (There’s something about standing in the open holding a metal rod that’ll do that to you.) I’m certainly not alone. Lightning has fascinated people throughout history. It took Benjamin Franklin, though, to demonstrate its electrical …
Gambling
Ever since there have been human beings, human beings have gambled. Dice carved from the ankle bones of antelope have been found in prehistoric tombs. The ancient Egyptians played a game calle datep, which involved guessing how many fingers someone was holding up. The classical Greeks and biblical Jews had forms of dice, and the …
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