As I type this, there are new leaves on the calathea orbifolia perched on my desk. Three, actually, still curled up. They’re slowly releasing, pushing through their blackened, crispy neighbors. Still ...

It was a brisk but sunny day when I bounded down the stairs, lifted my suitcase with ease, and breezed out the door to board a plane for a press trip to the Kalahari Desert. I was blissfully ...