In the first summer of the pandemic, I was only able to take my kids to the beach the week before school. While the older two rode boogie boards, my younger daughter dug holes near the waterline, afraid of the waves farther out. …

A few months before the pandemic my family stayed at a hotel on Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. The place was run by an expatriate European and had an extremely tolerant attitude toward small animals. Mostly I think this reflected a desire not to be bothered about things. There were…

The region around Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya is a desert landscape. To a Californian, the look of the hills and rocks and washes is familiar even if the vegetation is not. Bumping along in a land cruiser, we must have crossed a half-dozen dry river beds. …