Every summer at the Choctaw Indian Fair in central Mississippi, hundreds of men, women, and children gather to take part in the fair's main event: the Choctaw World Series of Stickball. This multiday tournament in summer1 celebrates the fast-paced, aggressive game of stickball (also called toli or ishtaboli), possibly the oldest sport in North America. Players come not only for the sport but also for the sense of community that stickball affords. In stickball, players work to move the towa—(ball)—2down the field to their opponents' end, where a narrow twelve-foot-high post stands. To catch, carry, and throw the towa, they hold two kabocca, these are sticks made3 of hardwood with a netted scoop at one end. Kabocca are used to catch and throw the ball.4 Players score a point by either touching the post while carrying the towa or launching the towa and hitting the post. Teams can be any size as long as both sides have the same number of players. In fact, the sport is nicknamed 'the little brother of war' because communities frequently settled disputes by playing stickball instead of waging battle.5These contests were fierce and physical, and there were almost no rules.6 The playing field had no boundaries, and the length of the field varied greatly—sometimes a significant amount.7 Modern-day stickball has inherited the game's intensity. True to the legacy of the game, players do not wear pads or helmets, also8 many play barefoot. However, there have been some changes. The game today is usually played on a football field. New rules have been added for safety. For example, only participants making a play on the towa are permitted to be tackled. For the Native people at the Choctaw Indian Fair, stickball is much more than an exciting game; it's a way to honor their heritage and keep it thriving. Through the centuries, stickball has remained a central part of Choctaw culture. Thomas Ben, the stickball commissioner, said, 'This is us. This defines the Choctaw people.'9
Producing and distributing pennies isn't cheap. And in that year alone, the Mint made nearly six and a half billion pennies, costing the US over 170 million dollars. In 2022, the US Mint spent 2.72 cents to put each penny into circulation.10
From the time Honor Frost made her first amateur underwater dive in the late 1940s,21 she was committed to spending as much time as possible exploring their22 ocean's treasures. This23 underwater explorer would go on to pioneer the field of maritime archaeology. Frost's most famous contribution to the field was excavation of the Kyrenia ship, a 2,200-year-old warship off the coast of Sicily.24 After a local sponge diver discovered the ship in 1965, Frost led the excavation,25 during which Frost's team recovered wood and artifacts that was26 thousands of years old. The work was painstaking—the team had to carefully extract each piece and document its exact location. The significance of Frost's work became clear as history was simultaneously27 rewritten. She spent decades diving to depths of 300 feet or more, despite the equipment being heavy and cumbersome.28 Her commitment to the field lasted until her death in 2010. Frost's work laid the foundation for the field of maritime archaeology, showing that the ocean29 could reveal secrets about ancient civilizations.
The winter night I attempted to see the famed Orion Nebula, I didn't expect to succeed. I was an inexperienced astronomer peering through30 light-polluted skies. But I was eager to test my new telescope's capabilities, and the nebula is said to be one of the greatest sights in the night sky. So I bundled up, set out my scope to cool down (its mirrors must adjust to the cold air for optimal viewing), and scanned for the constellation Orion. I had prepared for this night by studying constellations in my astronomy books. Orion appears as a hunter who, in some mythologies, is fighting Taurus the Bull, another constellation. Even in bright skies, the telltale three stars marking Orion's belt are easy to spot. I knew to follow the belt to Orion's sword, a dim line of stars extending south. The middle of these is actually not a star but a nebula, the Great Orion Nebula, a birthplace of stars. When gravity causes the gas and dust to collapse, forming stars.31 The nebula, is home to thousands of young stars, is32 often called a galactic "nursery." I centered my scope where the nebula should be, inserted my lowest-powered eyepiece, and leaned in to look. I just made out a dull smudge. I couldn't get much improvement even when I adjusted the focuser. Coincidentally,34 I switched to a higher-powered eyepiece and tried a trick I'd read about for viewing faint objects: using averted vision. The principle of averted vision states that the eye can often see distant objects better by looking to one side of them rather than directly at them.35 I focused my eye on an area beside the smudge, and, sure enough, my peripheral vision yielded a far better view of the nebula's swirling clouds. I even saw the Trapezium star cluster, illuminated36 by four bright young stars nestled in the nebula like birds' eggs37 in a nest. Observing these features made my winter trek outdoors worthwhile, teaching me that a change in focus is sometimes helpful to see more clearly.38