Why, oh why, do we talk about the weather? Is it because it is one thing in the human existence that all people experience? Or is it that it is a sure-fire constant in a revolving world? Or is it the wonderous fact that the same general elements remain, but reveal themselves spectacularly new, every day? It used to be a joke that if you were on a date and all that came up was the weather, you needed to try again with someone else. But, I love the illustration of sunrises, clouds, rain, lightning, sunsets, and of course snowflakes,...

My son has a planter box on our back deck. At some point, he filled it up with potting soil and wildflower seeds.  He watched and watered it closely and did get wildflowers the first season he had it.  As a homeschooled child that counts as an A in gardening, but I’m afraid we both forgot about it after that. Towards  the end of  last summer, he and I were doing some math outside when I noticed the planter again. It was a royal mess. There were some thin, brown, crispy, weed-like threads snaking up the deck rail, but not...