Splash was up early and went outside in the pre-dawn. The local temperature sensor claimed it was 22 degrees, fully ten below freezing under clear skies. Whatever that drone thing is that appears in the evening sky still blinked prominently to the east as the real stars faded in the growing light. He closed the […]

This is a heck of a week. The number one issue was local, which is a little surprising, since one of the issues on the screen DeMille left on the tablet at his seat by the fire read “War in Europe?” He had departed the cozy space by the nice fire Melissa had started. He […]

( Our Expert Guide at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, 12 May 1998). Many of us Old Salts have heard of what is becoming known as “Mal-Mis-Dis Information.” Our Government has declared what goes on as a sort of domestic unpleasantness verging on something bigger. That is sort of an unusual place to find ourselves […]

(The Talking Heads, 1979) Splash was humming this morning. He was inside due to the return of the gray cold by the Fire Pit. It was ominous indication he may be thinking again even after that last memo from the HR Department at Socotra House. They get irritated, since his antics frequently cause meetings between […]

Splash was out with the dawn, an event we experienced at The Farm for the first time in the latest Big Storm passage over the Piedmont. This one was so big it got a name. When he was done with a cigarette he came in through the storm door but was unusually silent and part […]

Author’s Note: the Writer’s Section is puzzling through rumors of “False Flag” provocations in Ukraine that could bring war again to Europe. It is a sobering business, just like the Jobs Report that is likely to have bad news this morning. We intend to be strong, and Splash advocates taking the afternoon off, in peace. […]

Country life can be complicated when attempting to juggle local and national affairs. The Chairman has been off the property, attempting to juggle the perceived value of the property against the inexorable inflation and threat of dramatic interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve. He sent a note to DeMille and the other department heads […]

The junior Attorney attached to the Writer’s Section at Refuge Farm was clearly frazzled. It was a nice enough morning, some sunshine amid the clouds, and temperatures might even break freezing later. She waved a regular sheet of paper from the printer that was completely blacked out with china marker. “See? This is what you […]

Author’s Note: This was a rough from 2005, a long time ago in modern terms. In that year, Minneapolis-Saint Paul was still a bustling modern city that had few immigrants beyond the ones who had come from Scandinavia. We don’t want to pick on any particular group, since these days the discussion spins off into […]