“What was the strange thing the dog did in the night?” “Why, nothing,” said Watson, puzzled. “Elementary,” responded Holmes, coolly. That is what the weather did Monday night. Nothing. Bob Ryan and Action 4 Doppler Radar blew the call. There was not an inch or two more fluffy white stuff on the ground, though the […]

Just like Bob Ryan told me last night on the Washington Weather, there is a pile of snow outside and a Winter Storm Warning in effect until one o’clock this afternoon. The flakes are moist and heavy on the balcony. It does not look like we got that much here in town, but they reportedly […]

It is a slow start this morning, not because I am moving slow, mind you. Quite the contrary. There is a lot of mopping up to be done and I am shoveling paper as fast as I can. There is a bushel basket of bills and magazines, nothing personal, of course, since that all comes […]

It is a frigid morning here in Washington. The dawn has not broken yet, and the half-moon is trying to penetrate the gray haze. It is Michigan weather visiting us here, pulling up a chair and wrapping us in cold embrace. It was in the single digits last night, and the wind chill is right […]

It is 18 degrees this morning morning, cold in a way that only a normally temperate climate can deliver. Penetrating. The 71st annual convocation of the American Conference of Mayors is happening today. They are meeting somewhere, didn’t catch where, but I expect it is someplace warm. Looking back up the centuries, Francis Bacon, Lord […]

Then There Was One   It is nineteen minutes to the hour, according to Bush House in London. There is quite a controversy over whether or not the Chancellor of Germany colors his hair or not. Believe it or not, there is more news, some of it significant.   A quarter of Britain’s army is […]

A Day On   It is the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life today and we have a national holiday. I hope we consider the legacy of non-violence, and the remarkable success that Dr. King had in overthrowing the appalling system of American Apartheid. The doctrine of non-violent civil disobedience developed by Mahatma Ghandi […]

I was wintering in Korea in 1981. It was cold there, bitter numbing cold so pervasive that we were authorized to wear a thick thermal jacket with our uniforms. Walking to the concrete entrance of the old Japanese bunker where the watch center was located, I made sure to make a lot of noise, whistling […]

French Birth Rate Skyrockets   It is never good news to hear about your hometown on the overseas radio. I knew we were in trouble when the BBC reported from Fairfax County, and it was about the wave of shootings this summer. This morning they reported about my alma mater, The University of Michigan. My […]

Vigilance   This is an early morning. I sampled the January air from the balcony. The air is cold and dense enough to fly a nun. Not as cold as it is in Seoul this morning, where in January the breath freezes hard on the interior windows of the escort van and the traveling party […]