Joining in a beach cleanup this week, I found soda cans, candy wrappers, a lone flip-flop. More trouble: the shore was dotten with dime-size bits of brightly colored plastic. This polka-dot effect ....

I may have thought that I had it made and was tempted to enjoy myself. But when I looked down, not only was I confronted with the dizzying prospect of the abyss out of which I had clawed my way, but ....