(Renowned actor and activist Alex Baldwin. Photo courtesy Access Hollywood) “First, it’s always a treat to be someplace other than Washington, D.C. – the only place where, as I like to say, you can see a prominent person walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand.” – Remarks by SECDEF Robert Gates at the Eisenhower […]

(Renowned actor and activist Alex Baldwin. Photo courtesy Access Hollywood) “First, it’s always a treat to be someplace other than Washington, D.C. – the only place where, as I like to say, you can see a prominent person walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand.” – Remarks by SECDEF Robert Gates at the Eisenhower […]

(Winning Norwegian Meat Protein Platter from the 2009 Bocuse D’or)   It was a thoroughly Willow week, and generally speaking, a good one.   The weather was on the cool side but sunny and breezy. Pleasant, after a brief swelter that prompted Leo, Big Pink’s resident Engineer to kick in the chill water feed and […]

Microsoft Office was finishing me off late in the day. I was peering at the screen, trying to figure out why no one was responding to the urgent notes I was sending, and realized the stupid program had defaulted to “offline” status.   All the information I tried to convey to my colleagues was clogged […]

(Willow’s Icon. Photo From Willow) Life is pretty good. Looking down on the Big Pink pool, things are ready for the season. The ladders are up, the water level is full, and the only thing missing is the new pool furniture, which the Board says will be in place for opening day.   I am […]

  (French King Henry III ‘s “L’Ordre du Saint-Esprit.” Hung from a blue ribbon or “un cordon bleu” it became associated with the lavish and decadent feasts held by the Order. Photo Le Cordon Blue)   Pool Czar Peter was stalking around the deck of the pool late yesterday when I strolled in from a […]

The title of the book is a little florid for my taste, though I certainly appreciate the value of a good blade, be it on an instrument as long as your arm, or something better suited for the satisfying clean plunge through a tomato.   I would tell you about the expensive plastic part that […]

Gentle readers, this is something important about the situation in the Gulf, and these are the words of my friend Ray, who is authoritative on marine matters. What he says is worth taking onboard, since the media has the oil spill in its teeth and is fanning hysteria. Ray comments that the disaster is real, […]

(Frozen Jumbo Shrimp, image courtesy Food Mayhem 2010) I was peeling some shrimp last night to sauté in garlic and extra virgin olive oil. It has been steamy hot lately, the great slump into the long season of simmering heat here that always starts a few weeks before the building HVAC is cut over to […]

(Kelly-the-attorney, late of Oakton, on her 30th birthday/ All Photos Socotra)  I am still in a  bit of a daze this morning. There is a fog hanging around, mentally, anyway, and a lot of mail piled up while I checked out to attend the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow in Faquier County yesterday.   […]