A last hurrah for summer softball

I was thrilled to get one more season of watching my daughter play before she left for college.

These kids love being onstage

TADA! Youth Theater in New York offers kids an opportunity to learn what a theatrical career is all about.

The continuity of Life

A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

Tumbling tumbleweed

Just beneath the sandy soil of my new yard lurked a bounty of weeds waiting to sprout.

After thunderstorms

The easiest flowers to grow

The easiest flowers to grow

David Millar tries to clean up cycling from inside the peloton

The Scottish rider, once banned from the sport for two years for doping, now competes with a team pioneering a new drug-testing model.

'Butterflies, show yourselves!' I shouted.

Suddenly, a small, black shadow darted from above. I craned my neck, hoping to see something.

The quiet power of a family portrait

An old photograph of my grandmother's family helped connect five generations of women across time and distance.

More Mail Bag matches

Readers remember pen pals they found through the Monitor's old Mail Bag column.

3 generations, 1 vacation

Extended families forge closer ties on shared vacations.

Facing down fear for your financial future

A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

Nonblooming water garden plants

Wild green Bronx

The Bronx is blooming - and bursting with gardens, birds, and parks.

Two readers ask: What's up with my tomato blossoms?

Easy way to water trees right

A fool-proof drip irrigation device for new trees and shrubs.

Review: 'Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired'

Documentary on the famous film director's conviction in LA 30 years ago delves as much into the legal system as Polanski's psyche.

Review: 'Space Chimps'

This animated feature about chimp astronauts more than pales in comparison to WALL-E.

Review: 'The Dark Knight'

The latest Batman movie is a relentlessly bleak take on the comic book, with a superb performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Review: 'Mamma Mia! The Movie'

This loopy ABBA musical has Meryl Streep playing a superannuated American hippie running a funky hotel on a Greek island and preparing for her daughter's marriage.