My bother was here for a delightful visit. He arrived by train, a sort of sepia-toned mode of transport, and he seems to like the farm, worked a bit on the truck, and we swapped old stories and memories, some good and others not. It culminated (I hope) the astonishing procession of grandkids and old […]

Nope, no explosives today, unless the buzzards encroach on the human jurisdictions of the farm. Maybe the Marine down the lane will blast some off later, as the dusk blends into the velvet darkness of this special summer day. I luxuriate in the memories of an epic trip bringing the Pepto-Bismol 1959 Rambler wagon to […]

Ah! the legendary Nat King Cole’s “hazy, crazy days of summer” are here again. I am here to testify to that. As a chaotic prelude to the holiday celebrating our independence from a tyrannical despot, a total of five children occupied the headquarters compound of Refuge Farm. It was fantastic to see the kids taking […]

Well, here we are at midweek, and sort of confident that the world will continue until at least tomorrow. We are walking a variety of planks strewn willy-nilly all over the globe. It is not quite bewildering- I mean, winnowing 24 candidates for the Presidency is going to be an anguishing process over the next […]

Well, it happened again. The long swing from winter, in the northern hemisphere, anyway, to our sweltering summers in the Virginia Piedmont is accomplished. From here, we advance (or recess) by a minute or so of less daylight until we shudder and shiver again in the darkness, and wonder at the vagaries of our orbit […]

It was the 19th of June, 1865. The blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico glittered in the brilliant sun. The sand was white as sugar on the barrier island. Major General Gordon Granger, late of the Army of the Cumberland, read General Order #3 to the people of the former Confederate city of Galveston, […]

Goodness, a complicated transition to high summer. Mr. Trump claims he is running again; goodness. Hong Kong, one of my favorite cities, is in apparent revolt against the central government. Life is great if you can live live it. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

Car People: Rosie Update A car parked in front of a truckDescription automatically generatedIt is car season, and those people who (like me) are obsessed with our shared history. and forged metal and paint. Mom and Dad flogged a station wagon like this version of Rosie from Detroit to El Segundo, CA, to show his […]

OK- I appreciate and apologize for the fact that I inflicted my current bucolic lifestyle on you yesterday. It was kind of fun recounting the morning routine at the farm. It is almost as if the full moon was blasting a beam of bright white light through the bedroom window long before dawn, so bright […]

I dunno if it is climate change or what. I am no denier- I mean, the global temperature, based on limited samplings, has rocketed upward by almost a full degree (Celsius) since 1850. So, things change. But it was a cold winter here and I am still chilled in the middle of June when I […]