It was the 19th of June, 1865. The blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico glittered in the brilliant sun. The sand was white as sugar on the barrier island. Major General Gordon Granger, late of the Army of the Cumberland, read General Order #3 to the people of the former Confederate city of Galveston, […]

Goodness, a complicated transition to high summer. Mr. Trump claims he is running again; goodness. Hong Kong, one of my favorite cities, is in apparent revolt against the central government. Life is great if you can live live it. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

Car People: Rosie Update A car parked in front of a truckDescription automatically generatedIt is car season, and those people who (like me) are obsessed with our shared history. and forged metal and paint. Mom and Dad flogged a station wagon like this version of Rosie from Detroit to El Segundo, CA, to show his […]

OK- I appreciate and apologize for the fact that I inflicted my current bucolic lifestyle on you yesterday. It was kind of fun recounting the morning routine at the farm. It is almost as if the full moon was blasting a beam of bright white light through the bedroom window long before dawn, so bright […]

I dunno if it is climate change or what. I am no denier- I mean, the global temperature, based on limited samplings, has rocketed upward by almost a full degree (Celsius) since 1850. So, things change. But it was a cold winter here and I am still chilled in the middle of June when I […]

(Proud new crop of black-headed turkey buzzards in the barn, the birds contemplating doing something foul to my tractor). So, we are all tired. That may account for a certain lethargy on the Congressional Committees, what with the transatlantic travel required to keep up up with the peripatetic 71-year old President Trump. In the last […]

(Mr. John Dean, disbarred attorney and convicted felon lectures us on the finer points of obstruction of justice.) This has been a tough couple days- Manhattan shuddering with the helicopter crash yesterday that made some think 9/11 was back again. There was a curious void in the regular broadcasts- all the talking heads tried to […]

The approach of this day filled me with dread- not the fear of it arriving, but rather the things that get swept along with birthdays. This had been an emotional week, what with the memorials and celebrations surrounding the ancient conflicts that shaped our world. At some point I had to turn to my own […]