We are a couple days into summer. Weather is a little crazy- they are saying record warmth in the Pacific Northwest, which has people alarmed, since that is the state we are used to now. Here in the Piedmont of Virginia it is actually cool enough for a sweater in the morning. Both unusual. We […]

We were going to have an Editorial Board Meeting this morning. That would justify a lot of activity that might be of marginal use, would keep stuff flowing in the pipeline we can deny later, and make us feel good with the idea that the enterprise will continue to shamble forward. You know, the way […]

I have avoided claiming any expertise on the COVID pandemic. I am not a medical specialist, nor an epidemiologist. That said, I do have some unique experience to apply to all this, since I happened to be working on an unrelated project for the Secretary of Health and Human Services late in 2001 though my […]

This is Jim Champagne’s day. I know Birthing Person Nature would quibble with that, but she is busy. I know it is the observation of the change of season, the alleged Summer Solstice, but as far as I am concerned, it belongs to Jim. He was the de facto Dad at the Amen Corner, and […]

(Kiko-San, in Yokosuka, Japan. 1949). Quite a set of notes this morning from the Out There Gang. Bewildering, almost. It started with Cornhusker’s contribution about the disposition of the cremated ashes of the Class A Japanese war criminals. There were six of them, including Tojo, the main public figure of the Empire, excepting his aloof […]

Author’s Note: I was working on something else this morning, and realized the topic might get me scooped up in some of the activity I was attempting to describe, not endorse. So, I thought this might fit better as a mildly amusing account of ordinary stuff that becomes extra-ordinary in the context of the times […]

The Mid-Week Review meeting avoided much contention, thank goodness. If you were wondering, the Summer Solstice arrives this Sunday, coincident with the observation of “Father’s Day,” which like “Birthing Persons Day” just past will require some juggling of old and new words. The replacement for the former, like the latter, is still under discussion for […]

This is a quick one this morning, partly due to frustration and partly to that Zuckerberg guy. Well, mostly the Z-man. I was working on some great stuff to share with you. Well, maybe not great, per se, but information and context about Tulsa, the ten engagements- not the ones with rings- the two big […]

(A southern view from Algonquin Trail toward Raccoon Ford. On the right is Raccoon Ford Road- today’s Virginia Route 617. Local historian Clark B. Hall captured this view in 2017, with the bluffs and tree line of Orange County visible in the distance). Sorry to intrude this delightful morning with an account of average events […]