Pondering Palimpsests

From the time of the Greeks and Romans up through the Middle Ages, one of the most common materials for writing was parchment (untanned animal skin). Due to the labor intensive process involved in transforming an animal hide into a writing surface, parchment was quite...

A Walk in the Woods

The American essayist Hal Borland once wrote “If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.” Trees grow from tiny shoots into saplings, and then into mighty trees as old or older than the oldest humans. But even through all the...