6 in the Morning

Good morning, and welcome! As the school year comes to a close, I would like to acknowledge all members of the graduating class of 2020 who are missing out on a live commencement ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduation is meant to be a rite of passage into adult life, a celebration of what has been and what is to come. It’s a time to recognize years of achievement alongside those who love you most. And, unfortunately, it just isn’t the same when conducted from a video call in your living room. I witnessed an electronic graduation of my own on Friday morning. Our family sent out a video of my cousin, Janet, walking down the sidewalk to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance” in celebration of her transition between kindergarten and first grade. She was given a diploma and a graduation cap made from a plastic bowl and a sheet of cardboard, complete with a tassel on top. “Take your little tassel, and move it to the side, like this,” my aunt explained to her. “That means you gr...

Good morning, and welcome, and no, April Fools was last month. Extreme ironing really did seem like a joke at first: “ironists”, either alone or in teams, go hiking up mountains, rafting across rivers, or even skydiving, all in the name of pressing a pair of pants or two. It appeared to be something you simply try once, just to cross off the bucket list, post on social media, and pretend you actually got some housework done this weekend. However, the more I looked into this outlandish sport, the more I realized that there’s a lot to admire in its enthusiastic participants. Ironists across the globe have formed a tight-knit community based on their shared passion, and put sincere effort in developing and refining this skill. EI requires imagination, endurance, dedication, flexibility, teamwork, flair, and actual ironing talent. There’s always something new to try, and the ironists’ commendable willingness to march boldly into the unknown in spite of all potential risks is definitely i...

Good morning, and welcome! I was going to write an article about the 7 Wonders of the World, but I’ve got to be honest here. If you Google “7 Wonders of the World”, you’re going to get confused very quickly. Here’s the problem: there are actually 4 official lists. First, there’s the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, which is the original list written by Antipater of Sidon in the 2nd century B.C. He chose The the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Olympia’s Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, and the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. All but the Great Pyramid have been lost to modern society. That’s why the organization New7Wonders launched what they call a “global voting campaign” to elect a list of 7 modern wonders available for tourists to see today. Modern society chose Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Chichen...

Good morning, and welcome! Every kid has a phase in their childhood when all they want to do in a day is go to the zoo and gawk at the animals. It's a relaxing day, cruising around in a stroller, letting someone else pick up the tab for the hot dogs and ice cream you ate for lunch, and then visiting the gift shop just long enough to clear out the place. If you don't count squashing worms on the pavement at recess, the zoo is really the first opportunity today's kids have to interact with our natural world. As a four or five-year-old, I wish I had known that there was so much more out there when it came to partnering with life on Earth. Humans and animals have been teammates for millennia. In exchange for their loyalty, companionship, and willingness to work hard by our side, we provide them with the resources they need to thrive and work with modern technology to protect their communities and habitats. Animals can be found working in therapy, agriculture, the military, ...