30 April 2015 is the day the city fell, and the Republic of South Vietnam was absorbed into the body of the invaders to the North. The Treaty was broken brazenly and North Vietnamese regulars supported by armor rolled toward the coast from the central highlands, cut the Republic in half, and then wheeled and […]

Dutch photographer Hubert van Es caught this image of the last helicopter to leave Saigon before the city fell. He stayed, and observed the transition. The helicopter could not accommodate all those that wished to depart, and van Es reported the ones who were left behind waited for hours, hoping for another to arrive and take […]

Over the weekend, I was preoccupied with the tire and the journey from Kilmarnock to Culpeper, and disappointed that the correct size tires- 235/50R19- were not in stock at the retail outlets in our hardy hamlet. That resulted in the decision-making tree that suggested the tires might have the 72 miles left on them if […]

I had a couple cups of coffee with my gracious hostess as my host slumbered. We looked out at the currents in the estuary- fish, she said- and watched the ravens swoop at the little birds that were hitting the feeder. A desultory chill rain was coming down, and I was itching to get rolling […]

Editor’s Note: I am in an undisclosed location on Virginia’s historic and lovely Northern Neck. I am working off the iPad and phone, and neither gives me much flexibility. I will have some observations about the trip, which will eventually follow the Historyland Highway, originally cut through the brush by the legendary planter King Carter […]

(Two of the cooler members in attendance at the Spring Red Tie Luncheon. Photo Socotra). The Spring Red Tie Luncheon was yesterday, one of the biennial events that gets all the old and new Spooks together to share a meal and catch up on the health of the organization Mac Showers founded almost thirty years […]

(Ike and Alan Dulles at the dedication of the Original Headquarters Building at Langley. Image CIA). OK- the big news of the night was that Heather went three-for-three, drove in two RBIs and had no errors. The Naturals of the Nature Conservatory, going head to head with the World Wildlife Fund, still went down by […]

(The Blue Goose in better days. I have been used to seeing it like this for the nearly thirty years I have been knocking around Arlington. Image CoStar). I probably should ride my bike over to Willow in the afternoon, and perhaps I will start doing that once it gets warm and stays that way. […]

It is nice to be out of the bubble of noise in Your Nation’s Capital. It is soothing to be in the country. With the emergence of the season, I feel a sense of new energy down at the farm. The Russians have brought in the first crop of the Spring, a bunch of red […]

I am sure it is the anniversary of something this morning, since I have been spewing accounts of momentous days in Virginia, Massachusetts and Oklahoma City lately. It has been fun, but as my eyes blinked open in the country pre-dawn this morning, I realized I have a busy time coming up, and the time […]