“Aurora Borealis,” a stroll with Harry Kollatz, Jr., through Nature, Disaster, Memory.
“These days, the natural world around us is magnificent as a Baroque painting adorned by blooms and birdsong …” “The summer of 1914 would have been memorable for us even without the doom which it spread over the European earth,” author Stefan Zweig recalled in his book The World of Yesterday. “Throughout the days and nights...
“Epicenter,” by Amira Pierce: New York empties out.
“Our New York is scraped raw and almost eerily still…” “Epicenter” is a word they’ve said, we’ve said, I’ve said, you’ve said. Before, I didn’t care but this time I wish we meant it was the fashion epicenter, the entertainment epicenter, the business epicenter. And people who aren’t here ask from my computer monitor, “How is...
“Last Night I Cried,” by Paula Boyland.
No guidelines for a new way of life. “On the surface, we’re still doing what we were doing before the world changed …” Last night I cried. I was pouring myself a glass of wine and debating whether to watch TV in bed or play games on the computer. Mid-pour, I was surprised by the tightness in...
“No One Is Intrinsically Immune,” by Christopher Bradley, MD: A neuroscientist explains transmission.
If the surface were “human,” our immune system would not recognize it as “foreign,” and we would not develop immunity. A pangolin, or spiny anteater, in defensive posture. Where do I start? I’m a molecular biologist, a neuroscientist, and a practicing physician (so I deal with infections). I am not a virologist, nor an infectious...
“At Death’s Door,” an essay by Margie Patlak.
Looking back and clinging to life. “But I just don’t feel old! I’m not ready to die.” I was going to die. I had a brain tumor; it had grown back, I could feel it boring down into the roof of my mouth, and now I was going to die. I couldn’t accept it, couldn’t...
