A few weeks ago, while walking down Madrid’s Paseo del Prado, I came upon a lush, textural wall of plants. “How beautiful!” I gushed to my husband. As it turns out, the wall is more than just a pretty facade, it has a practical purpose as well. Green walls like this one are yet another …

Many political activists are familiar with the expression, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” In most contexts, it has a positive meaning, but when we are talking about climate change, those rising tides can be devastating. Here in Massachusetts, rising tides aren’t lifting just boats, they also threaten to flood densely populated areas and erode …

  The woods surrounding Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts have changed a lot since the time when Henry David Thoreau traversed their landscape. There’s a parking lot by the pond, throngs of people now gather where he once lived in isolation — and there are numerous monuments to Thoreau’s greatness. I walk my dog through …

When we think about the Netherlands, we imagine tulips, windmills…and bicycles. Not only does the Netherlands have the largest number of cyclists in the world, it is also the safest place to ride a bike — largely because of its well-planned, high quality bicycle infrastructure. The system enables families to pedal to almost any destination, …

  A couple of summers ago, my sons encouraged me to read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a novel about a father and son fighting for survival as they traverse a cold, sunless, ash-covered landscape. What touched me most about the book was the way the father tried to explain, even normalize, this post-apocalyptic world for his …

October is breast cancer awareness month. Pink ribbons are everywhere, from lapels and teddy bears, to cleaning products and perfume. So much levity and cheeriness for a disease that is deadly seriousness. So much hypocrisy when these ribbons adorn items containing carcinogens. When I think about breast cancer, I think about my mother, who died …

Last week, my husband and I met with our neighbors. The town is planning some improvements to our very busy road. For the safety of the nearly 30 children living along our stretch, we want to make sure that these “improvements” include a sidewalk and ways to slow down traffic. We also want to give …

A few decades ago, the word, ‘cancer,’ was uttered in whispers only. No one wanted to talk about it. Then, in 1974, First Lady Betty Ford started a national conversation when she publicly shared her breast cancer diagnosis. In the process, she saved the lives of countless women by raising awareness and helping them overcome …

  A butterfly’s transformation—from minuscule egg, to chubby caterpillar, to pod-like chrysalis, and finally into an intricately decorated, delicately winged creature—strikes the perfect balance between magic and science. My introduction to the more scientific aspects of a butterfly's life cycle came at the age of eight, when as a budding naturalist,

While visiting New York City this summer, I felt like I couldn’t breathe as I climbed the stairs out of the subway station. Deep in the ground beneath the city's streets, the heat had reached an intensity that I had never experienced. The lack of air down there gave me a much more vivid understanding …