I missed the last two editions (87th and 88th) of the Virginia Gold Cup, the celebrated steeplechase held at Great Meadow near the village of The Plains in the piedmont horse country. I had my reasons. Two years ago I was up in Michigan, trying to clear out my parent’s house in preparation for its […]

(USS Gerald R. Ford in an artist’s rendering. Cool ship. Image courtesy Popular Mechanics). I have been watching the slow progress on the construction of the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier with a great deal of professional interest. There are some amazing technical innovations being incorporated into the design of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) […]

(This is an example of the White Cloud Cirrus III electronic cigarette. I have tried several versions, and this may be the best I have experienced. Photo White Cloud.) The skies are blue, temperatures are up, and life (outside the hermetic seal of the Beltway) appears to be well worth living. This is, by way […]

(The Director and Deputy Director of a major suburban combat support agency who have elected to retire this fall.) “I have been to this movie before,” I declared firmly and put down my glass of happy hour white a little harder than normal for emphasis. “We completely screwed ourselves.” “What are you raving about now?” […]

Today – Rain with a few thunderstorms – some locally heavy downpours are possible, especially during the afternoon hours. High 71 °F (21.7 °C). Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Tonight – Showers and thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 66 °F (18.9 °C). […]

I thought it was sort of cute when I first read about it, but thankfully I caught myself. It is Dartmouth, after all, one of the bastions of academic integrity and expensive enough to be smug about it. Still, the wanton act of naked micro-aggression could not go unpunished. Meaning no disparagement of those who […]

The New Look for a venerable organization began at the Spring Red Tie Reunion meeting at the ANCC Arlington campus. The new clubhouse is an elegant venue, and totally appropriate for the new look that Chairman Bob Murrett and President Norm Hayes envision. The Arlington venue permitted greater than normal participation by the uniformed contingent […]

  (The May Day demonstration against the War in 1971 was billed as the “largest civil disobedience action” in American history. It is regrettably forgotten in the tumult of the end of the astonishing decade of the 1960s. There may be something else going on these days.) It was asses-and-elbows trying to get out of […]

(This might have been the best darn chocolate-cocoanut-nut and wonderfulness cake I have ever tasted. Kate Jansen’s baking is unreal at Willow). This week was a blur- it started at the Broadmoor in The Springs and culminated with Buffalo Nite, via the Big Pink Finance Committee and Spring Red Tie Luncheon with the Professionals. Buffalo […]

(This isn’t mine- I have no idea where the one I had framed wound up. Perhaps it is in that stack of art I will never look at again in the office off the garage at Refuge Farm. I hope the mice treat it with due respect.) Mission Statement from Commander Salamander: “PROACTIVELY “FROM THE […]