(The Purdue University Marching Band with their giant bass drum prepare to kick off the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Dad had a gang of like-minded car guys who would go to Indiana for the Race, and sometimes to the time trials that set the position on the grid. When he did not go in person, he […]

(Mac Showers speaks to an audience about the Battle of Midway at the 70th Anniversary in 2012. J2 RADM Paul Becker looks on. US Navy photo). Snow still on the ground, temps still barely climbing to the double digits. I am going to Suitland for a military retirement this afternoon, though I would prefer to […]

(Snowy owls- this one a female- are being spotted way outside traditional habitats. Which includes K Street in DC, of all places. Photo Wikipedia.). We may get up to the twenties today, so I am officially bored with the weather. I got to thinking about the Hawaiian Islands yesterday, what with the birthdays, and a […]

(Icebow at Barrow, AK, America’s northernmost city, north of the Arctic Circle and the same temperature as Blue Arlington this morning. Photo Wikipedia). You say it’s your birthday It’s my birthday too, yeah They say it’s your birthday We’re gonna have a good time I’m glad it’s your birthday Happy birthday to you. Yes we’re […]

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 […]