“Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.”

– Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher

“Do you remember the barn swallow?”

It was Father’s Day, and my cousin Lloyd and I were reminiscing about our childhoods and our fathers in particular. As a child, Lloyd had spent nearly every summer on our family farm. We’d grown up together – more like brothers than cousins. It was a precious time.

“I can still see Uncle Albert ducking and diving for cover.”

I laughed heartily when Lloyd reminded me of the incident.

One Saturday morning a long time ago, Lloyd and I had been roused from breakfast by my father’s frantic outb...

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