What if the train were late? That thought occurred to me as I drove out of Washington DC the other day headed south, and saw the ever-spreading metropolitan area of Washington that now reaches down and through Fredericksburg, Virginia. In a short stream of consciousness moment I imagined myself trying to take the train from […]

Author’s Note: My Muse arrived with the hummingbirds this morning…Arrias In the Dismal Swamp on a summer morn, The air is thick and warm, Like a blanket is lies over the wood, Will the afternoon bring a summer storm… The air is still, not a leaf does stir, Not a peep or a rasp or […]

Franklin Roosevelt, when Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson cabinet, remarked to a friend that: “it would be wonderful to be a war President.” That thought has probably crossed the mind of many a politician who sees himself as a great leader. The war in Ukraine has been grinding on now for almost […]

Author’s Note: 64 here and rain – looks like rain and thunder all day… My Muse is laughing at the weather guessers… – Arrias August Treetops rustle in the dark, A light rain begins to fall, A hint of cool in the air, Doesn’t feel like summer at all. It’s still early August, But the […]

15 years or so ago Robert Redford made a movie – Lions for Lambs – which attempted to ask some hard questions about the War onTerror. It received mixed reviews, wasn’t seen by a lot of folks, and arguably missed the mark – the difficult mark – of entertaining while getting people to think about […]

Author’s Note: My Muse reminds me, amidst all the frenetic handwringing – it’s summer in the Dismal Swamp, which means it’s hot and wet… – Arrias Dismal Swamp Summer The air is warm, thick and wet, In a soggy blanket all is cloaked, Just a minute outside the door And my shirt is completely soaked. […]

What is that by the door? Porter will investigate! Her head goes down for a closer look, She’s in quite an excited state! Suddenly it moves – Porter jumps! All four feet off the ground, Then down she comes, her head goes down, But she doesn’t make a sound! Another blink, it moved again, Porter […]

As Damon Runyon liked to say (quoting Hugh Keough): “The race isn’t always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Looking back 247 years, how would odds-makers have called it, what kind of odds would they have given the gang in Philadelphia? Before answering that, consider the […]

Author’s Note: I have been pestered by my Muse … it won’t win any prizes but there it is! – Arrias To Our Founding Fathers What were they thinking, Why would they even dare, Fight the British empire? They didn’t have a prayer. The British had thousands of troops, The Colonies really had none, Just […]

So green is the grass, in a hundred shades, Green too are the trees, The morning sun plays gently on the leaves, And some turn golden by degrees. A woodpecker begins his daily labors, Hammering rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, And the squirrels descend warily from nests, As if poised for combat. The songbirds begin their daily choral, […]