(Liz-S and Old Jim at the Amen Corner. Liz-S is in white and Jim is not commenting on what happened in Vegas. Photo Socotra.)   I stopped by Willow on the way home- duh, you know? The crew was reassembled. I can’t tell you what Old Jim and Mary did in Vegas- I wouldn’t ask […]

(USS Vincennes (CG-49) launches an SM-1 guided missile on sea trials. She was scrapped in 2006. Photo MSHennessee.)   They would have been playing Bee Gees tunes at La Belle, the nightclub in the former West Berlin that night in 1986. A lot of troopers from the Berlin Brigade were in the crowd, America’s overt […]

(Refuge Farm viewed from the lower pasture. Photo Socotra.) The Internet is always a bit of a crap shoot down at Refuge Farm. But it is OK.  The sun is shining and the temperature is good on the skin and the critters are happy in the fields below the little house. I managed to get […]

I looked at Liz-S across the bar. “Hey, is this the last day you are the bar manager?” She smiled broadly, tossing her chestnut ponytail. “I will stay, part time, but as of Monday I am an official grown up.” “Awesome. It is about time. You are on your way.” Friday’s at Willow are transitional […]

(Zaytinya Restaurant in Washington’s hip Penn Quarter neighborhood. Photo Zaytinya.) Things are better, though slowly. Knees apparently are easy to break and hard to heal. I stopped wearing the leg brace a couple weeks ago- and have felt marginally better with each day. The chaos and travel of closing out the house in Michigan put […]

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter RUSH (WHEC-723) It was getting on time to get out of Willow and navigate home. I have some sort of an internal meter that tells me when to go, and Boats was traveling by train to get back to his digs in Annapolis. I held my palm over the top of […]

(USS New Orlean passes under the Huey P. Long Bridge north of New Orleans, LA. Photo USCG.)   The crowd was transitioning from Happy Hour to something later at the Willow Bar. The regulars were getting topped up, and the more casual patrons were cycling toward the dining room or back to their homes. I […]

“So, the Jones Act is killing merchant sailors? How is that? And how come the market doesn’t take care of those labor issues?” Boats grimaced and pushed the wreckage of his beef-on-weck sandwich toward the side of the bar where Jasper and Liz-S were working. It is a little poignant; Liz-S got dressed up in […]

“It is necessary for the national defense and for the proper growth of its foreign and domestic commerce that the United States shall have a merchant marine of the best equipped and most suitable types of vessels sufficient to carry the greater portion of its commerce and serve as a naval or military auxiliary in […]

It was a glittering affair from the secret world at Willow last night. The second-to-last Director of Naval Intelligence thought it would be a good idea to honor our iconic Mac with a dinner. The attendees were a select bunch (except for me) and the list was restricted to active and retired flag officers and […]