I was sitting in the little office they gave me on the E-Ring of the Pentagon talking to one of the people who were attempting- partially successfully- to keep me sane in the face of a new job. Like most of the career, it was accidental in nature with no discernable scheme or plan to […]

We tried to stay up for the Speech last night. It was billed as being something historic, and the general sense in our wizened crowd was that it was something to which we had a civic duty to monitor. Due to the importance attached to the President’s remarks, we did not bother to identify what […]

(This image is from a gray day on the Texas coast just a few years ago. The long gray shape is that of an aircraft carrier named for the first Secretary of Defense, James V. Forrestal (CV-59). When her steaming days were done, she was sold to an enterprising scrapping company for $1. She is […]

(Word spread yesterday of the passing of a world leader whose time in this world made a difference in ours. Some of our current history is part of an effort to reverse Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy. We are publishing a book about how that all worked!) We were surprised to see the news spreading yesterday. One […]

(The official Refuge Farm Christening Sign is now in place out by the Big A** Rock. Our Ace Landscaper got it in place yesterday to help commemorate the completion of the new porch addition. That in turn is against a backdrop of an economic recession here at home, or what appears to be something larger […]

It was a nice Piedmont Dawn here in rural Virginia. We had no reports of fuel leaks, though the banging on the roof was a little abrupt. Drama was mostly external, though some collateral damage was completely expected. You can’t expect to peel a sheet metal skin off a house without a little impact noise, […]

Well, Sunday at Refuge Farm launched early! Temperatures in the mid-60’s, lovely sunshine and life is pleasant. As you know, we had been thinking about Next Steps for life in the Country. The transition from working farm to something they apparently call “independent living,” which is a pleasant term for something else on the inexorable […]

 I remember the last project Mom and Dad attempted up in the little village by the bay. It was a two-car garage with a neat little apartment on the second floor. It was neat, and provided a place for the kids to stay when performing one of the check-in visits. It enabled Dad to take […]

Family matters arrived with the return from a marvelous vacation by part of the clan. It looked like it had been fun with a visit to the golden islands of the Mid-Pacific to show the grandchildren where some of their parents had been born with the unique title of “Kama-ainias.” That term is Hawaiian for […]

OK- we talked a bit about “Black Swans” earlier this week. The term refers to highy unusual events that may pop up periodically in the world square. We learned about them growing up in the Old American system of education. The Great Depression our generation heard about from our folks would fit in that one. […]