Doppler radar shows the snow is already falling out on the Shenandoah at Winchester, and I wonder if I should turn my day on its head? Go to the office briefly until the snow begins to come down here and at least be outside for a bit today. The heavy dump is supposed to come […]

(Spike in the initial roll-out of Raven’s Halloween Jet. He is in the side yard of the house in Grabbingham at Chester and Frank in 1964. The concept was identical to the rib-and-fabric construction of the flying models Dad used to build. Photo Raven). So, down at the farm and not a thought about the […]

(T.I. Martin Field in Culpeper. Image courtesy wikipedia). Hey- it is ‘Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited’ to the waning moon at the farm this morning- and a little colder than the Standard Day. If we were going flying out of T.I. Martin Field today, we would have nice dense, still air and plenty of lift. “Standard […]

Another disastrous morning from the staff of The Daily. Twice this week I have launched off on topics that (when I got to the end of the essay) made me a bit queasy. This is another one. I think it is fairly good, and touches on some of the issues one confronts with the idea […]

(The contents of last night’s Socotra medicine chest. Clockwise from lower left, el Cubano Bitters, Deer Park Cparkling Warer, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, el Guapo Tonic Syrup and the finished product. Forget to garnish with fresh lime. Damn.). I was listening to National Public Radio yesterday afternoon as I motored in the Bluesmobile toward the Class […]

(Front, L-R, John-With, Chanteuse Mary, Lovely Jamie, Joy, (second) The Architect, TLB, Vic Incendiary, Jon-without (back) some guy and Chris-from-Montana. Photo Jasper). Now in the morning pre-dawn, smoking the first cigarette of the day- I don’t smoke in the apartment except for those irritating eCigs and looking out over the parking lot at Big Pink […]

(Heather and Liz-with-an-S. Photo Socotra.) Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : And you know what they call a… a… a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese? Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is. […]

Man, the farm is sort of like a narcotic. I waded through another in the excellent series of NFL playoff games as I scanned old color slides from Raven’s extensive collection. This particular slide carousel contained evidence of a trip to London and Brussels conducted, according to the time stamps on the back of the […]

We are going to have a roller-coaster winter. They are talking about another Polar Vortex (there is apparently a difference from the usual Alberta Clipper) coming to town by next weekend. It may not be as severe as the last one, but it will bring the National Capital Region snow and more chaos. I mean, […]

Mister Mxyzptlk: (/mɪksˈjɛzpɪtlɪk/ US dict: mĭks·yĕz′·pĭt·lĭk or /mɪksˈjɛzpɪtəlɪk/ US dict: mĭks·yĕz′·pĭt·l·ĭk), Backwards, Klptzyxm (kil-pit-ZEE-zim /kɨlpɨtˈziːzɨm/) – Wikipedia The lights at Refuge Farm flickered briefly as I breathed the last letter of my name, spelled backwards. “V,” I said, and the great room seemed to swell and gain color and then diminish and snap back into […]