Most Americans accept without question the founding principles of the United States are ones of rugged individualism. Possibly this is the reason taking care of each other has not been as ardently embraced by a similar number of Americans. There is a common, but erroneous suspicion it is socialist to…

If a loving God was to send down an ambassador would not the form of the dog be useful? A dog is literally an “angel” incarnate. Dogs are so immediately trusted by humans, they are brought into the home without a second thought. …

Women with red hair possess a special kind of beauty. I did not really notice this until adulthood. Generally, red hair was seen as unattractive in my school days, especially in males. …

I play a lot of “bullet” chess. This means each side has only sixty seconds for their entire game. Sometimes winning is just about surviving the clock. I have been up a Queen and two rooks and still lost a bullet chess game. …

Long ago in a galaxy far far away, I had a dog named Laker. She was a great dog. When she passed on it was a difficult moment. At that moment this particular flower was all over my Southern California garden. …

At Adventures in Terraforming, the plants are the thing. We are great friends, plants and I. Sometimes I even cast them as characters in a short story. Here is a short story about a plant whose toughness as a houseplant is well-known. Less well-known is its ability to process a…

Mountain conditions can be very harsh for the gardener. Winters tend to be very cold, so many people just grow annuals. Frosts can come just about any time of year, so even annual flowers are too tender for the mountain garden. Perennials provide reliable bloom every year without replanting. Each…

A compost pile creates soil from plant material. This occurs naturally in nature, of course. A tree falls in the forest, whether someone hears it or not, and it will begin to break down. Eventually, the denizens of the forest find themselves absorbed back into the forest floor. …