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.

Becoming who we’re meant to be is the hardest battle of our lives
If the kids are confused in school, maybe it’s the system and teachers
Social creatures: We heal each other, but start dying when alone
If elections could bring freedom, voting would have been outlawed
My utopia’s different from your utopia — and that’s just fine
Totalitarians want to seize your cash as the moral rot continues
Are you ready for chaos when fed shutdown turns your gravity off?
What kind of hypocrite gives advice but won’t practice what he preaches?