The 30 | Experiment No. 4
This passage really stuck with me, something of a prose-poem during National Poetry Month. The big oak at the end of our Norfolk garden is a kind of coda, a...
The 30 | Forests
Violins, Chocolates, Asteroids Still loving Smithsonian Open Access. / "Night Through Forest" by Louis Eilshemius, 1889. Uncountable are the afternoons I...
The 30 | Experiment No. 3
We're heading for one of the earliest cherry blossom blooms on record after a winter-that-wasn't in DC. Amid the thrashing news cycle, I encourage you to...
The 30 | Trees
Superpowers, Citrus, and Salmon This sprightly painting is from Smithsonian's new open-access image database. / Watercolor no. 35 by Allen Tucker, 1937. The...
The 30 | Experiment No. 2
"That was all I knew, at the start." I love the framework here: pick a random day. With some luck and a masterful journalist, the result is remarkable. A...
The 30 | Gatekeeper
Camels, Coffee, and One Mean Moon A result from searching "gatekeeper" on Unsplash, a sharing community with 157,866 photographers and counting. / Raül...
The 30 | Experiment No. 1
Find a solid internet connection and immerse yourself in the microscopic creatures of Antarctica. A reminder about this year's experiment. -30-
The 30 | Late
Goats, Ghosts, and $1 billion Probably chastising someone for their tardiness in 1917. / LOC The ball has dropped, in so many ways. I assume you've...
The 30 | Experiment
Through the many doors of your mind and into your soul. Or stomach? I promise I'm not looking two doors ahead. Just one. / Dustin Renwick A super interesting...
The 30 | Sans
No time for curses. The witching hour approaches on All Hallows Eve. / Wikimedia Commons The rain last night steadied and softened, steadied and softened but...
The 30 | Kindness
“So shines a good deed in a weary world.” -- Willy Wonka via Shakespeare The simplicity of Ellsworth Kelly's "Austin" resonates with me regarding this theme....
The 30 | Slugs
Banana slugs are the second-largest terrestrial slug species in the world. Do not eat them. A relative stranger and I gabbed about bees between swim sets at...
The 30 | Sports
Some humpback whales too, if you're into that. U. S. Amateur and Professional Roller Skating Championships at Palace Rink in Detroit, March 1914. / LOC I...
The 30 | Moon
I, too, stepped on the moon. / Dustin Renwick Retrospectives and recaps featuring the most famous satellite will inundate your news feeds starting in 3......
The 30 | Maps
A woman corrects a scale model at New York University in 1939. May was all about maps, and I'm thrilled to share this month's newsletter. My family didn't...
The 30 | Awards
Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen poses with his medals in 1914. / LOC Accolades ≠ achievement. Receiving an award for writing, photography, or other...
The 30 | Community
A meal in South Carolina looks just as welcoming today as it did on July 4, 1939. / LOC Meaningful interactions remain difficult to replicate in digital...
The 30 | Fashion
French actress Gaby Deslys shows off her style in 1913. / LOC A short month demands a few long reads, including an excellent profile of the new big-thinker...
The 30 | Death
At least nine people died from the fires that resulted when a train with nearly 170 school teachers aboard crashed in eastern Pennsylvania in April 1911. In...
The 30 | Wonder
You might recognize the polka dots of a Wonder Bread store in Wyoming. / LOC Take heart if you dread another year-end, best-of list. I promise this...