BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Walking with my terrier-boy in Lafayette Park, I often happen upon the beginning of a late-afternoon performance by the American Robin Ballet Company. The dancers scatter across the lawn, their dark charcoal cloaks and garnet waistcoats vivid...
NOCTURNE

NOCTURNE

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD The melody seeped into my REM cycle, making me just lucid enough to believe someone was singing a cappella outside my window. But my sleep-clouded brain couldn’t make out the words and I didn’t recognize the voice either. Besides, who would want...
THE JET SET

THE JET SET

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Everyone has their own personal markers of summer—the flash of a firefly, the pulsing hum of cicadas, the aroma of freshly cut grass… I’m sure you have a favorite.  To my mind, nothing says summer quite as definitively as the sight...
HELICOPTER PARENT

HELICOPTER PARENT

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD As the most literal of helicopter parents, a ruby-throated hummingbird mom (RTH, Archilochus colubris) takes hovering to a whole new competitive level. In the case of this feathered sprite (2.8 – 3.5″ long, including bill, and just over 1/10 of...
SUNSPOTS

SUNSPOTS

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD There’s been a marked decline in the number of sunspots over the past decade or so. That’s what NASA scientists say, and I have no reason to doubt their research findings. Luckily, I haven’t observed any reduction in the terrestrial version of...