Stop, now, what’s that sound? — Nature is said to abhor a vacuum. The human ear and brain abhor silence. If auditory stimulation from the outside world is diminished, the brain and the ear will make up for it, creating phantom sounds that are usually labeled tinnitus. Though it’s often used interchangeably with “ringing in the…

A playful ditty about getting back down to the real nitty gritty First, a big shout out to fellow Medium contributor Scott Vatour. His recent post, “A sustainable future may bankrupt Elon Musk/Electric cars are no magical solution to the future’s pollution problems,” is a great read, and it reminded…

Someone, please explain this Medium . . . to me — The more I read and explore on Medium, the more I feel as though, like Alice, I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole or stepped through the looking glass. And not just because I’ve already encountered the equivalents of the Mad Hatter, the Tweedles, the Cheshire Cat, and the Red Queen. …

Our new pet eats up everything — cold cuts, tennis shoes, time Maybe you’ve noticed, dear followers, or maybe you haven’t, but I haven’t posted for more than a month. There’s a reason for that. My wife and I acquired a dog. I say acquired, but it was technically a…

Christmas where I grew up was cherry bomb season If we were to play a word-association game and you said “fireworks,” I would not say “4th of July.” I would say “Christmas.” I have no memory of popping firecrackers or shooting off Roman candles on the Independence Days of my…