Napping Porcupines, Etc. What caught our attention first as we entered the house that summer were the large porcupines who were snoozing, their quills at rest cascading down their necks like mohawk haircuts. Across the aisle from them, petite dama gazelles gently chewed hay beneath their feet in another pen. As we walked further on, … Read more
Poetic Timing Three days after Pablo Neruda was hospitalized with cancer in his native country of Chile in the autumn of 1973 after having been very ill for some weeks before, he died of heart failure on September 23rd at the age of 69. However, it wasn’t in just any month that Neruda’s final days … Read more
The Origins of Fireworks If you get the opportunity to see some glorious fireworks this Fourth of July on this Independence Day in the USA, you are actually witnessing an invention that can be traced back to China many centuries ago. Here’s how this particular ‘once upon a time’ story goes according to historians: A … Read more