PAUL CHRISTENSEN

Summertime. A lush, fat sun shines down on me as I walk to the épicerie, the general store at the other end of the village. Arrived in France eight days ago, no longer jet-lagged, already taking my baguette with a casual chew followed by a slurp of thick, black wine from one of the local vineyards. The market town is just down the road from here, and fills the streets each Saturday, from eight to one, and you can hear most of the western European languages from Finland to Gre

Ever notice how the headlines in the NY times and the Washington Post are always binary, joining a claim of possible relief from our doldrums and coupling it with a dark warning? Here’s an example I made up to illustrate: Good times are coming for the economy, but some economists warn of stagflation ahead. Always a but as the hinge joint between the two phrases. However and yet might be substituted for the but, but it is the preferred short hand for capturing the duality of o