I have avoided claiming any expertise on the COVID pandemic. I am not a medical specialist, nor an epidemiologist. That said, I do have some unique experience to apply to all this, since I happened to be working on an unrelated project for the Secretary of Health and Human Services late in 2001 though my […]

This is Jim Champagne’s day. I know Birthing Person Nature would quibble with that, but she is busy. I know it is the observation of the change of season, the alleged Summer Solstice, but as far as I am concerned, it belongs to Jim. He was the de facto Dad at the Amen Corner, and […]

(Kiko-San, in Yokosuka, Japan. 1949). Quite a set of notes this morning from the Out There Gang. Bewildering, almost. It started with Cornhusker’s contribution about the disposition of the cremated ashes of the Class A Japanese war criminals. There were six of them, including Tojo, the main public figure of the Empire, excepting his aloof […]

Author’s Note: I was working on something else this morning, and realized the topic might get me scooped up in some of the activity I was attempting to describe, not endorse. So, I thought this might fit better as a mildly amusing account of ordinary stuff that becomes extra-ordinary in the context of the times […]

The Mid-Week Review meeting avoided much contention, thank goodness. If you were wondering, the Summer Solstice arrives this Sunday, coincident with the observation of “Father’s Day,” which like “Birthing Persons Day” just past will require some juggling of old and new words. The replacement for the former, like the latter, is still under discussion for […]

This is a quick one this morning, partly due to frustration and partly to that Zuckerberg guy. Well, mostly the Z-man. I was working on some great stuff to share with you. Well, maybe not great, per se, but information and context about Tulsa, the ten engagements- not the ones with rings- the two big […]

(A southern view from Algonquin Trail toward Raccoon Ford. On the right is Raccoon Ford Road- today’s Virginia Route 617. Local historian Clark B. Hall captured this view in 2017, with the bluffs and tree line of Orange County visible in the distance). Sorry to intrude this delightful morning with an account of average events […]

I was going to subject you to a continued tour of the ‘hood here around Refuge Farm. It is colorful, and reminded us of what it must have been like to live on these fields with only a thin tent for cover against the implacable elements. Raccoon Ford, a shallow stretch of the Rapidan River […]

(This brick manor house, named “Salubria” is the oldest brick home in Culpeper County. Just a fair walk east from Refuge Farm, or Wicked Bottom, if you are walking west). It is the 70th anniversary of my presence on this earth. This morning, I can say that I survived the ’60s- twice. A brief note […]