I love frogs, always have. A tall shelf supported by a large stone frog adorns my living room. One of my old email addresses is simply “Kafroggy.” I was therefore charmed to learn about this cute little plastic aquarium, which comes with two frogs, one plant and one snail with special gravel. You feed the [...]

The latest in our seasonal poems by Susan Kinsolving, one of our most stalwart Voices in Verse. Her books include The White Eyelash, Dailies & Rushes (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award) and Among Flowers. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and publications including The New York Times Book Review, Poetry, [...]

Dear Dr. Pat, I am 48 years old, in excellent health and in great shape.  I had my last period just over a year ago and had a very uneventful menopausal experience, with the exception of the usual hot flashes. I take calcium and Vitamin D, eat a balanced diet and exercise daily. My bone [...]

My son comes home tomorrow from his summer holiday — one that has already made this a very different kind of summer. Summer can mean so many things: a new wardrobe, a new job, a new semester, vacations, camp, slower schedules. For most, it’s the end to the school year. Kids are happy. Parents? Well, [...]

Something changed when I reached my 40th birthday: I realized I had forfeited nearly a decade of my life to one day, and wondered how many more years I was willing to sacrifice. That day was September 11, 2001 — when, three months before our wedding, my husband-to-be, Doug Irgang, perished when the seemingly invincible [...]

Though the weather forecast promised seas of less than a meter in the Queen Charlotte Sound, as we passed the aptly named Cape Caution — which marks the line where Vancouver Island no longer provides protection from the Pacific Ocean — the swells grew until they reached over five feet. So much for forecasts. Admittedly, [...]

Interesting article in this week’s Financial Times, highlighting comments made by Larry Fink, founder of investment giant BlackRock. Apparently, Fink criticized the “luxurious” returns reported this quarter by a number of Wall Street firms (taking particular aim at Goldman Sachs). With less competition, Fink observes, the remaining firms are taking advantage of market conditions to [...]

Here in Savannah, Ga., people in my neighborhood are accustomed to a variety of aromas: the occasional stench of the paper mill when the wind is from the northwest; the sweet, grassy fragrance of the salt marsh to the east; the perfume of magnolia and wisteria in the spring; the lingering essence of horse and [...]

The facts are these: Mary Jo Bang has published five books of poetry, including Louise in Love, The Eye Like a Strange Balloon and Elegy. Her abecedarius The Bride of E will be issued by Graywolf Press at the end of September.  She lives in St. Louis, Mo., where she is director of the creative [...]

Architect J. Max Bond, Jr. who died a few months ago at 73, led a life of intelligence and fortitude in the face of ignorance and resistance, while always doing his best work. His early career took him to France, where he worked with André Wogenscky; to New York, where he was at Gruzen & [...]