There was no getting around it. Christina, who is 51/2, intended to wash our kitchen floor. She had been studying her “Cinderella” videotape for weeks, and now she wanted nothing more than to scrub. Read more
GodsBigBlog: Does a Teacher Have the Right to Wear a Muslim Headscarf? A Nun’s Habit? A Sikh’s Turban? Not in Every State
Three states still have laws on the books prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garments in the classroom.
GodsBigBlog: Hunger in America — It’s Real
My writer colleague Laura Willis reports from Sewannee, Tennessee, that the economic crisis is hitting people pretty hard in the Southern Cumberland Plateau. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to receive food . . . .
A Case of the Human Condition: Flowers Bursting From the Dirt — How Do They Do It?
They emerge from mud, manure, leaf rot, earthworms, sow bugs. And they are beautiful. How do they do it? Read more.
A Generation of Preschoolers Trapped in Their Yards
Jon and I loved our new house in the hills with the curving, no-sidewalks streets. But all that privacy and rural ambiance weren’t so great for raising kids. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition: In Your Face Orchids
Stupendously, outrageously beautiful orchids. Read more.
Mad Men Exposes the ’60s Girdle — But Will She Get It Off in Time?
You can’t fool me. I know a girdle when I see one. A stewardess on Mad Men did a strip tease — but how was she going to get that girdle off without turning hot sex into farce? Read more.