Have you been watching the Winter Olympics?  Anything in particular stand out to you?  Are you amazed, like I am, by the sheer speed of the luge or bobsled shooting down that tube of ice?  The precision and teamwork of...

In Sophocles’ play Philoctetes, the character Neoptolemus declares: “I would rather fail through acting well than win by evil means.”   If you’ve been paying attention to the Winter Olympics, then you may have heard about the cheating scandal in curling:...

Did you have trouble waking up this morning?  Wish you could sleep a bit longer? Well, did you know that the marmot, which is just a giant ground squirrel, hibernates through the cold season underground…for up to 8 months at...

The day is ending, The night is descending; The marsh is frozen, The river dead. That’s the beginning of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, called Afternoon in February.  He ends his poem comparing the bleak, midwinter day to a funeral:...

Last night, the Groundhog Day film I told you about was on TV, so I watched for a bit.  As Phil struggled to figure out what to do with his ever-repeating day, something occurred to me: Even though his response...

Today is Groundhog Day.  According to popular tradition, it is the day when a groundhog is released from his den—and if he sees his shadow, it means that there will be six more weeks of winter; if not, then an...