Not-yet-published pieces, stories, essays, rants, and random strangenesses

“A Prayer for Us,” by Rob Brezny And so I am starting to pray right now to the God of Gods . . . the God beyond all Gods . . . the...

Once upon a time, in ancient Greece, a secret ritual was held each May on the slopes of Wolf Mountain (Lykaion, the tallest peak in...

My job has me writing a lot each week: weekly newsletters, press releases, editorials, forwards and introductions to books—that sort of...

The older I get, the more Christmas fills me with a terrible ambivalence. But please note: “ambivalent” doesn’t imply a...

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD The New York Times No one would mistake the Stone Age ivory carving for a Venus de Milo. The voluptuous woman...

I have always been fascinated by maps. Not handsome, historical maps, but ones I might actually use. These days I spend an absurd amount...

The story of Christmas is the story of assimilation. Sorry to put it so nakedly, but it’s true. Wrapped up in this holiday, this holy...

A friend who shall remain nameless has been nagging me mercilessly about how I don’t blog anymore. Well, not mercilessly. And perhaps...

Scientists say the Earth is humming. Not just noise, but a deep, astonishing music. Can you hear it? By Mark Morford San Francisco Gate...

My friend Kate lived for several years in Yuma, Arizona, and worked as an environmental lawyer on an Army base. She and her fiancé Ken...

Ever since Alfred Watkins announced his discovery of a network of ancient alignments criss-crossing the British countryside, the history...

by Tirthankar Mukherjee, The UB Post (Ulaanbatar, Mongolia) Thursday, July 05, 2007 Kalidasa, the Indian poet-dramatist whose Meghadutam...

Many homes in this part of Florida (that is to say, homes newer and more expensive than ours) have a large screened-in area that encloses...

The woman who ran the campground was a coal miner. She and her husband both were. There are a lot of coal miners around Gillette....

Last night I swore I’d never again set foot in the Black Hills. Today I feel pulled back there, if for no reason than to see what they...

After the Inipi ceremony and the evening with Virgil, I needed a day to process everything. I left St. Paul after breakfast, and wandered...

The drive itself took, what, fifteen minutes? Twenty at most. At the time, St. Paul was definitely I arrived early at Mazakute Episcopal...

Yesterday I saw a tortoise crossing the highway. Some cars dodged it, a few slowed, others either didn’t see it or didn’t care. When a...

I love the annual death of Daylight Savings Time (or, as I understand it is now to be called, Daylight Saving Time, without the s; or, as...