Two If By Sea

Two If By Sea

As Laura Simms tells it, there is a Norwegian fairy tale which features a hero at an intersection looking at three signs. The first reads: “He who travels down this road will return unharmed.” The second: “He who travels down this road may or may not return.” The third: “He who travels down this road will never return.” As the fairy tale tells it, the hero chooses the third.

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Throw the Book at Her

Throw the Book at Her

Every man should have a wife who is as easy to please as mine. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said: “You don’t have to buy me anything. All I want is a day of your time.

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Theme and Variations on The Weakest Link

 Theme and Variations on The Weakest Link

From time to time, I have both revealed my true age and tested the outer limits of your memory by talking about the games I once played as a child. But, to my knowledge, I never once mentioned that grand old standby of playgrounds everywhere, “Red Rover.”

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The Piece of Furniture That Separates Us from the Barbarians

  The Piece of Furniture That Separates Us from the Barbarians

I can tell you this. If you are going to dwell anywhere for more than a few days, beds are optional but a table is a necessity. I learned that in the jungles of Costa Rica. For the year I went, things were more primitive than they have ever been, before or since. I spent two weeks building a church in a jungle, on a piece of land reachable only by dugout canoe.

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