True solitude is a din of birdsong, seething leaves, whirling colors, or a clamor of tracks in the snow.

Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hug, and the hug wears better in the long run.

There are two kinds of writers: hustlers and sanctimonious hustlers.

Sophistication" is another word for that inventive mix of tolerance, resilience, and resourcefulness city people develop.

Our loneliness makes us avid column readers these days.

The question of whether it's God's green earth is not at center stage, except in the sense that if so, one is reminded with some regularity that He may be dying.

Country people do not behave as if they think life is short; they live on the principle that it is long, and savor variations of the kind best appreciated if most days are the same.