(Pentagon after the jet flew in it). This was going to be part of an odd immersion in a time of transition. It popped up in the process of clearing out an old life’s wreckage of a marvelous and unexpected career in government service. I was looking at the resume of one of the upcoming […]

(This is the Gnome in slightly better days. We are proud he was not abandoned to the elements, since he has been on duty since at least 1908. He will get his lantern back, we swear!). It was a day of rescue, pitting the contents of the Office down at The Farm against the machinations […]

The latest swirl of real estate and literary works showed up this morning. There were a couple boxes containing copies of “Voyage,” the book I swore I would get published in honor of CDR Ed Gillfellin. It is partly his story of the voyage of the last Imperial Navy Battleship to sail the seas. The […]

Latin Lesson: The word ‘solstice’ is derived from the Latin words “sol,” for sun, and “sistere,” meaning “to stand still.” The word ‘equinox’ comes from the collision of two Latin words: “aequus,” meaning equal, and “nox,” for night. Don’t confuse them or Jim Champagne will get irritated. Well, we made it. It happened around 10:58 […]

PRC President Xi and SecState Blinken meet on uneasy terms This is quite a week in terms of Sino-US relations. President Xi of China took the top seat in “candid discussions” with Pacific area players way out west, demonstrating a new assertion of leadership in global affairs. MSM Coverage did not reflect the dramatic demonstration […]

Above is Dad, preparing to go to war with Imperial Japan. Below, a little relaxation on his 80th birthday, most of the wars done. Quite a lot of adventures in between, roaring Navy aircraft and sleek Detroit auto designs. He raised a roaring family as well, and we smile to think of them on this […]

This chapter is over. The image above is from the 8th Floor of the Virginia Hospital Center, looking east toward the Potomac. The silver building at the upper right is another part of the medical complex where the prelude occurred. This one is from almost Reston. We knew what this one was going to be […]

The entire northeastern coast of our continent continues to battle smoke plumes moving south from more than 400 fires burning nup in the hills and woods we used to ski in lovely Quebec Province. The Commenting Class claims there are more than four hundred fires raging, and the reaction across the continent has been severe. […]

Ah, blessed confusion this morning! We harvest this week a multitude of “news” that we have ceased to follow as “breaking items.” Like you, we have been awaiting the start of the spring offensive in the eastern provinces of what used to be eastern Ukraine. Someone decided to blow the dam on the big river […]

This little tale is several yesterday’s ago, when I still traveled in the rivulets of turmoil created by the Agencies at Langley and the Pentagon. As opposed to yesterday, this seems like a day the goons are winning, sad after a day that started with such promise. I had a marvelous time at work, or […]