B’s Buzz 4: Through the Walls: A storyteller’s story

One day while reading to my children, I came across a Hopi myth of creation, an ancient Native American story of how the world was made and by what laws it evolves or declines. The tale was vast, wise, and brilliant–and radically different from the Bible accounts I had grown up with. The thought dawned […]

B’s Buzz: #3 Spider Secrets: “Gain Spider Wit Without Getting Bit!”

For 400 million years or so spiders have survived everywhere from underwater to cloud level. Though tiny and delicate, spiders spin and mend webs of astonishing beauty and complexity. Though light as air, spider silk is one of the strongest fibers on Earth. Spiders use their webs as nets for catching food, or as nests to protect […]

B’s Buzz 2: Halloween’s Haunting History

Wailing ghosts, shrieking bats, witches riding across the sky? How did this candy-coated, fright-night of a holiday come about? Exploring Halloween’s history offers an adventure in cultural archeology, for conflicting traditions have veiled the origins of this magical night. Let’s lift the veils and explore. The Celts of Northern Europe believed in an Earth goddess […]

B’s Buzz #1: Einstein on fairy tales & children’s imaginations

A mother asked Albert Einstein what might help her son to become a great scientist. His answer?If you want him to be intelligent, read him fairy tales. Ifyou want him to be more intelligent, read him more fairy tales. Creative imagination is the essential element in the mind of the true scientist, Einstein believed. And […]