The young graduates strode briskly across the small stage, with red satin sleeves flapping at their sides. Their smiles were wide and frozen, like they knew they were supposed to be feeling elated, but weren't completely convinced. They seemed in a hurry to be done - out of there and on to someplace else. Like…

Some days the ideas just won't come. The morning feels stale, with little possibility for creative inspiration. I want the words, the ideas, to percolate and drip down with my morning coffee. I crave a jolt to my brain that will flow down my arm and distill onto the page. I cast about for any…

Last night, while doing the dishes, I looked out the window at the most glorious sunset. It was the dramatic, spectacular kind, with bright orange and cadmium yellow smeared across the entire sky. It had edges of dusky violet that glowed. I called to my husband, told him he should come over to look.And I…

On the other side of the mountain, behind our apartment lies the Zürich zoo. Many days on my run, I follow the wooded trails that lead to the large enclosure that houses the famous Asiatic elephants. They are big favorites of the tourists here. But it makes me sad to go there, to imagine those…