Book Review: Before They’re Gone

The splendor of the glaciers. The melting of the glaciers. Breathtaking views of wildlife. Diminishing numbers of wildlife. This is the back-and-forth journey readers take through Michael Lanza’s 2012 book, Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks.

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Start the Day with a Little Flower

I’ve always been a fan of the Hans Christian Anderson quote from The Butterfly that reads, “Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” It comes to mind these days when our three-year-old wants to begin each morning “looking at plants” with Daddy. It has become something of a ritual for her, and goodness forbid he leave for work before she wakes up.

Trying to convince her that we could still have a nice morning earlier this week, even though Daddy was already at work, I asked whether she might like to go look at plants. “With you?” she replied, clearly not interested in pursuing this activity with anyone else but her father.

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