Honey and turmeric: from a young age, my mother would blend these ingredients into a sticky yellow paste to soothe skin or calm a cough.

All instrumentalists start as novices; only after hours of practice does the foreign object in their hands begin to tie together coherent notes to create music. To be a singer, however, requires an innate talent that cannot be taught.

“AARGH,” I heard him yell. I was in the midst of a 45-mile backpacking trip in the rural Appalachian Mountains when I heard Zach, one of my 15-year-old campers, call from a distance. Zach had been chopping wood for the campfire and inadvertently wedged the ax into his right foot.