This is getting tiresome. I wanted to do something about deer repellent and tips from my garden experts, the Russians next door at Refuge Farm, and the Naked Gardener, and specific recommendations from my Coon Ass Cajun buddy about deer and the solid advice about marigolds and best garden practice from a committed herbalist in […]

  I honestly have no idea how I can have been at the computer since five-thirty and watched the night be overwhelmed by the assault of dawn, and still have not done a damned thing. I will not include the several streams of invective on everything that is going on, since none of us can […]

(I turned on the flat screen when I got home from Willow. They got the little murdering creep. Image capture courtesy ABD News.) What a week. I am exhausted, drained, wiped out. Last night brought a sort of closure to a very long day that began with some answers and many more questions. Too many […]

(Crowd Sourced image capture of Suspects 1 and 2 near the finish line at the Boston Marathon.) Sorry, I have been hunched over the computer, streaming NPR for information about “Suspect 1” and “Suspect 2” since before 0500 this morning. The answer was apparent throughout- name and age is always the first thing they get, […]

(Associated press image of the mushroom cloud at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.) Some maybe-informed people say that the explosion down in West, Texas, a little town of 3,000 people, was the equivalent of a three-kiloton nuclear detonation. The estimate of casualties is all over the map, and highlights the problems of the vulnerability […]

(Curious montage of the pre-explosive phase of the Boston Marathon attack. I have no idea if this is related to the actual operations but it certainly is curious. Montage courtesy “Based Heisenburg:” http://basedheisenberg.tumblr.com) My brother ran Boston last year- making the field at his age is a pretty impressive thing, and I am very proud […]

The pictures are posted, the toasts have bee raised. The haunting sound of the highland pipes covered the retreat of hundreds of officers and Sailors from the grave site. Mac’s earthly remains were given over to the soil, and to the patient presence of his beloved Sara V., better known as Billie. There are a […]

(Mac chats with Elizabeth-with-a-Z, 2005). “What do you want me to do? Win World War Two again?” – Mac to Grandson, Outer Banks Shower’s Family Reunion Quote of the week, 2012. It has been a marvelous weekend, filled with camaraderie and family, and it was an honor to be part of the gathering of the […]

(Spring is here at Refuge Farm. All photos Socotra.) Is ten o’clock the neighborhood covenant on the discharge of shotguns? I glanced at my left wrist to check the time, but of course why wear a watch down on the farm? When I arced back through the kitchen with the little bits I needed for […]

It has been quite a week. Stark yet dreamlike. I made it to the office for a few hours yesterday, needing to ease back into things. It was such a lovely day and the cabin fever was intense that it was a relief to get back to the office environment. I had a scrap of […]