I was scrolling through the messages this morning, marveling at the fact that as constructive paying labor has diminished, the discretionary time has done the same thing. For goodness sake, it is past noon and I am still in my bunny slippers and wondering if I should shave. Then I realized that if I did […]

(October still life, with Syclone). OK- despite the success in starting all five major motors on Saturday there was one little kink. The new battery for the Syclone didn’t fit. Or rather, it fit well enough to get the 4.2 cubic inch turbocharged V6 to turn over, but only with the battery jammed into the […]

(Three of the five engines successfully resurrected at Refuge Farm this weekend. Not shown is the ’59 Rambler and the ’04 Turf Tiger). Never got to generate a story yesterday, Gentle Readers, though there was certainly enough on which to comment. One of them was really depressing. They took a classmate off the ventilator up […]

I am at the farm to get the place squared away for Hurricanes and a foot of rain this weekend. I think I have enough candles, batteries, lanterns, oil lamps and propane to get through any short-term disaster, and the tragic events in Oregon had me numb, even as the meteorologists were changing the prediction […]

(Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in custody, 1951. Photo Associated Press). Well, they didn’t shut down the Government, which had a lot of people concerned here in town, but I didn’t notice any difference. What is topping the charts is Hurricane Joaquin who is arcing north and which, combined with a stalled low-pressure front, threatens to […]

(The close of business yesterday, making neat stacks). I feel a little weird. Maybe it’s the weather, or something like that. It is gray outside, deep gray, not raining enough to stop the pounding on the concrete I sit at the computer most of the day, either commenting on the follies committed in our town […]

(The guys drove the Bobcat tractors around the edge of the pool, punching through the concrete in preparation for the front-end loader to pry up big slabs and stack them). It is a special time of the year for Budget Weenies and book-keepers of the Federal Flavor. I was in the Finance Committee meeting last […]

(The pool was completely drained yesterday. When we lived down in Florida, that came with the risk that the ground pressure from below would push it up and damage the integrity of the concrete. I guess we will see). Well, there is an upside to all this. I think. I am not talking about anything […]

(Two bar stools from the Amen Corner of the Willow Restaurant at their new home in Culpeper.) It was another emotional and tumultuous day. Two of my pals have lost their dogs; there is not a great deal more emotional in life than that, so my heart goes out to them. I was all worked […]

It won’t be the first time we have laughed about the old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Hard on the heels of the Holy Father’s visit to Your Nation’s Capital, we have the visit of Chinese President Xi. There are a couple of interesting announcements associated with the visit. One will be […]