In recent years, I remember the sheer excitement of experiencing a total solar eclipse. For a few minutes seen from any one vantage point, the moon stood between me and the sun, covering its bright disc with just a fiery corona visible around the edge. Cool! Solar eclipses are actually common. There are a handful…

I am a “morning person”, which means that I get up like a shot before dawn (and, I suppose, collapse as if shot at night). If you live in a house with sleeping kids, pre-sunrise activity carries its own difficulties. I remember what that’s like: since everyone else is in blessed repose, you feel the…