I’m always amused when my oldest son visits from Salt Lake City and immediately starts complaining about the bugs. 

Summer on the East Coast? Mosquitoes are just part of the package.

I’ve lived my whole life swatting them away, mostly avoiding bug spray because - let’s be honest - I hate the smell, the sticky skin feel, and the idea of rubbing something toxic all over me. 

And seriously, what is in those cans?

Do we go with DEET or no DEET? 
If it's toxic for bugs, is it toxic for us too? 
And do those “natural” plant-based sprays even work?

But I think I'm going to think about it differently this season, and from now on. And I have my environmental health mentor, Lara Adler, to thank for that. 

Out on my morning walk yesterday, I started thinking about Mark Twain.

And, I know you’re thinking … that’s odd.

Well, I can kind of explain it.

Just the other day, a friend sent me a video of Conan O’Brien receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. 

(if you're interested in hearing a clip of Conan's acceptance speech expressing his reverence for Twain, here is one.  

Yesterday, I saw the news that the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to James by Percival Everett — a novel I read a few months ago. 

It’s a fictional retelling of Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, but this time through the eyes of Jim — or “James,” as he’s called in the book - a Black man who was enslaved.

If you’re not familiar with Huckleberry Finn, it’s set in the pre-Civil War South and centers around Huck, a young white boy, and Jim, a man escaping slavery. 

Reading James through Jim’s perspective offers a profound shift in understanding - one that expands empathy and reminds us of how easily we miss the full truth when we only view a story through our own lens.