In the game of genetic roulette, my sisters got the gene for nature, and I got the one for urban dynamism. Each of them found renewal in landscapes, but I was energized by city views. So, 10 years ago, when I decided to sell my home in bosky Dickeyville, I was surprised to discover that wherever I lived next, my body and mind still craved the sight of green. “Move down to Mount Vernon,” a friend urged, but I demurred and bought a fifth-floor condo in Roland Park, where I enjoy seeing treetops, pillowy clouds and spectacular sunsets.

Despite being a highly evolved species, we humans remain animals. However much we may think, plan, love and grieve, we can do so only within the assemblage of tissues, organs, sinew and bone that are our bodies, our mammalian bodies. And these bodies retain an

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