Ken Ilgunas

The other day I asked my wife, “If I could read all your thoughts, would I think of you differently?” We were having a picnic on a Scottish beach, eating bread and cheese during an unseasonably warm March afternoon. I’d been thinking thoughts and analyzing those thoughts, and I couldn’t help but conclude: If she knew what I was thinking, she’d think I’m such a simpleton. I wasn’t thinking smart thoughts about the geology of the sea cliffs, or sentimental thoughts about

[This is from my newsletter. Get these newsletters in your inbox by signing up on this website.] I’d hoped to knock out two of these a month, but who has the time? So much of my time gets devoted to childcare. Perhaps my most onerous parenting duty is letting my daughter tug my ear. Every day and every night she asks for it, using her mother’s German. “I want daddy’s ohren” is the mantra. She’s been tugging my ears for almost the whole of her 2.5 years. I don’t mind the dayti

Here are monthly "update" videos from behind my house. It's my goal to turn a small space and poor soil into a pretty and productive garden.