Merlin’s favorite times of the year are the fall and spring, simply because that’s when windows can be open and he can watch (and smell) the birds and squirrels that he’d like to be outside chasing. Here, he peers intently at the back yard through the open window right next to my desk earlier this week. Merlin is the one who disappeared for a couple of days after an escape through a screen about two years ago. He doesn’t seem to eager to leave the comforts of home behind after that adventure.

This is why people are confused about what anarchists really are
How much can human heart take when inner winter lasts forever?
If there are exceptions to free speech, it’s not really free speech, is it?
Hypocritical Republicans wimp out on free market when politics calls
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown: ‘Not every human problem deserves a law’
I’m writing a book — and I’ll be talking about it as it progresses
Like an alien, I move through a world I can see but never touch
When intense feelings turn numb, something inside has died for me
After long but necessary detours, the beginning finally nears for me