“The water,” said John Waldman, “varies between green and shockingly green.”

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For anyone who believes that all people are created equal and entitled to a government of, by and for them, it is a dark moment. The Supreme Court’s elimination of limits on corporate political speech guarantees that democratic power will now be directly sold to the highest bidders. Continue reading

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About two years ago, I started a list on Wordie of fine-sounding words. When I last went to add a word, however, the update function was disabled. I’d probably logged in so infrequently that a defunct-account subroutine kicked in, though I prefer to think of dust gathering on the computers, and a repairman’s sneeze sending words sparkling into the air like motes in a sunbeam. Continue reading

I learned only this year that when leaves change color, their essential color is emerging, revealed by a decline in chlorophyll production. There is something deeply gratifying about that. These gold-red fields, this final radiance, are gentle words from an autumn goddess: “Let go. Don’t cling, don’t worry, stop concentrating, stop trying. Let go, for a moment, and see things as they are and must be. Are they not beautiful?” Continue reading