Breaking News! We may have a President, one of these days. We are in the midst of the excitement of final exams at College, the Electoral one, with the only key date being the 14th of this month. The Joint Inauguration Committee, split down the middle with the two major parties, was unable to declare […]

(Pearl Harbor, 0755…While the Giant Slept. Image copyright Dru Blair.) You know what day it is. It used to be more prominent, but we have moved on in terms of memory and public emergencies. I am going to defer on those issues in honor of the day. I will think about living on the shores […]

Editor’s Note: Watching an endless Hallmark Channel movies has been recommended as a possible therapy for SAD. It is worth a try. Refuge Farm is decorated. Marlow has some memories of tunes past coming up tomorrow. As was heard in the chow line near the publishing bunk-house late yesterday, “Best damn National Emergency, ever!” – […]

Editor’s Note: Medical appointments this morning. This note is from ten years ago and kind of fun. Not exactly like this year. Reading it makes me remember another America. – Vic 05 December 2010 (Keepers of the Old Navy traditions. USMC Drill Instructors. Photo USMC.) My Candidate Officer called from Newport late yesterday, right before […]

I was briefly stunned into waking consciousness by a news blast yesterday afternoon. I know, I had almost dozed off in peace, but sadly that is how we get our news these days. I was reviewing some of the more amazing claims about the recent election- you may have heard them- that involved alleged casualties […]

Editor’s Note: This is part two of an account of a small event that happened a while ago. At the time, it was part of something much larger than a politician’s visit to a simple aircraft carrier conducting routine operations in the Mediterranean Sea. There was something else much larger going on. The Soviet State […]

Editor’s Note: Yeah, I know, we got back in the saddle yesterday to try to sense what is coming in this tumultuous year. I have a sense for what is going to happen this week, as the Electoral Summit’s proximity will drive all sorts of entertaining adventures. All the talk about Presidents and who they […]

I said we could get back to normal today, the day after the actual day after. But let’s start slow and ease into it. The left-overs will last until this evening. I think there is a slice of Culpeper home-made apple pie that may linger to breakfast tomorrow. It is a splendid, if finite, replacement […]

It is officially an off-the-clock Friday. We used to have a different name for it- something about retailing. I forget. But today, under gentle gray skies with a whiff of Autumn still in them the dishwasher is empty, the left-overs beckon, and life is good. As with all celebrations, there are a few things left […]

Ah, what fun! It is important to remember we have what used to be an important national holiday tomorrow. Or not; it seems that California and New York have officially minimized the celebratory spirit. Other states have banned alcohol sales at 5PM local, since the former holiday used to be one that featured festive themes […]