From the beginning In school, I only ever studied art because I loved it. Photography, printmaking, ceramics, bookbinding, and drawing were electives; things I loved to do, not things I was required to learn. High school was your standard blur of self-doubt and academic ambition, and when I was at Grinnell I tried to take …
This summer, my dad shared my Great Grandma Campbell’s 1890s autograph book with me. Jan. 4th, 1895 Dear Edna, The tissues of the life to be / We weave with colors, all our own, / And in the field of destiny, / We reap as we have sown. Ever your friend, Effie Naylor Edna Foster …
Rooftop astronomy Lately, the moon has been in a triangle with Venus and Jupiter, all 3 brighter than anything else in the early night sky, with Orion close on their heels as they all fly west (more correctly, as we spin east). I mark my nights by the angle of Orion relative to the tops …
“Huge elephants! Huge jellyfish! Huge whale!” That was Charlotte, as we made our way through the American Museum of Natural History about two months ago. There’s nothing quite like going to the museum with an active, curious toddler in tow. You see everything as if you’d never laid eyes on it before and it’s all …
And, suddenly…it’s November! My mom has an incredible green thumb, and her dad, Grandfather Bud to me, studied forestry at Syracuse. Growing up identifying every plant that crossed our path (or was even close to our path), I’ve learned enough to identify most common plants, but I’m still no expert. More than anything, I have …
