(Clark’s gun shop in rural Opal, the gateway to the South. Photo Clark Bos.) I thought about Mom yesterday- disconcerting not to have to send flowers or make the call to wish her the best returns of the day. This is the second one without her, and not being numb, or in the hospital, […]

(USS Forrestal (CV-59) on the hook off Toulon, 1989. Anchored out, contract ferries and ship’s utility boats got us to the bright lights of France. Photo USN.) It was November, 1989, in Toulon, France. It was first night in port, and I had the fever. I made a significant tactical error leaving the boat, having […]

Then-Captain Ted N. Branch at the Change of Command in USS Nimitz (CVN-68). Photo USN). Rear Admiral- soon to be Vice Admiral- “Twig” Branch is a great guy, emblematic of a class of American with a tradition of military service. He is trim and fit and smart, and he has Tom Wolf’s Right Stuff in […]

(Ted N. “Twig” Branch, nominated for the rank of Vice Admiral and duty as the N2/N6 on the OPNAV Staff. Photo USN). I had not thought about “Twig” Branch in a few years- 2008, in fact. It was evening then in Arlington, I cooked some dinner in the little kitchen and called a friend to […]

(Think you are having a bad day? Lt. Col. Krusinski’s mug shot. Photo Arlington County Police via AP). I think the Wings lost in OT, and that is it for the truncated season and post-season quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. I don’t know if the Wings lacked offense, I wasn’t awake. I could have been […]

(F-35 in flight. You don’t want to know what they cost, or that pilots report the airplane is a dog. Photo USAF.) I should be happy. The Dow-Jones is over 15,000, and my meager investments are doing pretty well. Of course, there is no other place for money to go, and why would I think […]

(A Senior Executive and attorney discuss important technological advances at the Amen Corner of the Willow Bar. Photo Socotra). Monday. The skies were gray, and fritzed pensively through the morning. I had a load of Goodwill crap- stuff I had purchased, without memory, and dropped it off on the way to work. Despite the rain, […]

The cicadas are here. They were crawling up out of the ground after seventeen patient years, drying their wings on the new beehives the Russians have installed. Mattski brought one over on his forefinger, and it was as spectacular a specimen as the ones from 1996: dark husky body and harmless, though menacing, bright red […]

Image of the bookish-appearing General Ignacio Zargoza. Courtesy of the Museo Nacional De Historia, INAH) There is no gunfire this morning at Refuge Farm- at least not yet- to commemorate the 1862 Battle of Puebla, and the unlikely victory of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over the professional soldiers of the Emperor of France, Napoleon Trois. […]

(Admiral Rex’s women are going. China girl made the cut. The Salukis are toast. Forward! All photos Socotra). I knew the harem girls were going to have to go. That was a given, and the really cool etching of the Hungarian Princess being seduced by the Gypsy girl in the back room, or the Charlotte […]