(General Smedley Butler. Photo USMC) Splash was energized. He had smoked nearly a quarter of a pack of Marlboros and contributed some actual thoughts to the essay the junior attorney would not approve for general distribution. She was a little huffy about that, and suggested we do something that was mildly controversial when Socotra House […]

Author’s Note: It is twenty-one years ago this chapter of the Alphabet Cities was fashioned from random electrons. The city in question was Shanghai, a more exotic location than it is now. It is funny to look back across the bridge of age and recall how we traveled this wonderful world. One of the ways […]

The number of flashing red lights is past the critical stage. We had a solid “red” on the I&W deck already. We are now watching the start of tactical deployment. The consensus at Refuge Farm’s Writer’s Section thinks it likely that it is war next week. The Russian ground exercise in Belarus is in progress […]

Splash was up early and went outside in the pre-dawn. The local temperature sensor claimed it was 22 degrees, fully ten below freezing under clear skies. Whatever that drone thing is that appears in the evening sky still blinked prominently to the east as the real stars faded in the growing light. He closed the […]

This is a heck of a week. The number one issue was local, which is a little surprising, since one of the issues on the screen DeMille left on the tablet at his seat by the fire read “War in Europe?” He had departed the cozy space by the nice fire Melissa had started. He […]

( Our Expert Guide at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, 12 May 1998). Many of us Old Salts have heard of what is becoming known as “Mal-Mis-Dis Information.” Our Government has declared what goes on as a sort of domestic unpleasantness verging on something bigger. That is sort of an unusual place to find ourselves […]

(The Talking Heads, 1979) Splash was humming this morning. He was inside due to the return of the gray cold by the Fire Pit. It was ominous indication he may be thinking again even after that last memo from the HR Department at Socotra House. They get irritated, since his antics frequently cause meetings between […]

Splash was out with the dawn, an event we experienced at The Farm for the first time in the latest Big Storm passage over the Piedmont. This one was so big it got a name. When he was done with a cigarette he came in through the storm door but was unusually silent and part […]

Author’s Note: the Writer’s Section is puzzling through rumors of “False Flag” provocations in Ukraine that could bring war again to Europe. It is a sobering business, just like the Jobs Report that is likely to have bad news this morning. We intend to be strong, and Splash advocates taking the afternoon off, in peace. […]