Last week, I was walking to the barn to feed the horses. The morning was so beautiful, it felt like a stab to my heart and I suddenly knew Spring was my favorite season. This surprised me. For decades, Autumn was my choice. What had changed? Or, what had changed in me?
Continue reading “Springtime”
My birthday is April 10th. Of historical interest, Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9th, 1865. On April 10th, he issued General Order No. 9, his farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia. In it, Lee stated he wished to “avoid useless sacrifice”, which has given rise to my birthday wish this year.
Continue reading “Me and Lee”
Baseball has started, which made me think about dad. How old was I when we first played catch? When he taught me to throw and catch a baseball? I know I was young. I also thought about some of the other life lessons that were a part of that process.
Continue reading “Playing Catch”
Last Tuesday I filled my F250 pickup truck with diesel. Well actually, I didn’t fill it up. The gas pump shut off automatically when it reached $100.00. That was 20 gallons of fuel at $4.99/gallon. I was lucky. The next day, diesel was up to $5.49 at the same station in Marshall, VA.
Continue reading “Fill ‘er up “
My friend Evan and I were checking out a trail for our running group, The DC Hash House Harriers (DCH3). As we followed the route, it became clear Evan and I have different definitions of what constitutes a hill. We decided to do a joint blog about hills, each writing half without input from the other. This is the result.
Continue reading “What Defines a Hill”
At Rohan Farm, we have five main pastures or paddocks for the horses. In Cathy’s and my shorthand, we call them: The Back Field, The Jenny Craig, The Barn Paddock, The Field Near the House, and The Front Field. For us, each area has its own particular use.
Continue reading “Pastures and Paddocks”
On March 9th of last week, Adam Ray would have turned 40. Adam was the son of my West Point classmate Jim and his wife Donna. He was killed by an IED in Afghanistan on February 9th, 2010, one month shy of his 24th birthday. The administration’s cavalier attitude about the current war with Iran is raising old ghosts from past conflicts.
Continue reading “Adam”
You have probably heard about the redistricting referendum in Virginia on April 21st. It is an effort to counter the actions by Trump and his friends to gerrymander several Republican-controlled states, starting with Texas. He is trying to keep control of the House of Representatives at all costs in the midterm elections. Voting YES on this referendum is essential to preserve democracy at the national level.
Continue reading “Redistricting”
In the summer of ‘82 while stationed in Germany, we drove to what was then Yugoslavia* for a vacation. Along the way, we stopped for lunch in Venice. That is what you do when you are young and in love. Not for the night. Not for a couple of days. Just lunch, because, why the hell not?
Continue reading “A 1980s Selfie in Venice”
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war“, said our president about our latest attack on Iran. That often happens in war? THAT OFTEN HAPPENS IN WAR!?!? Could he be more tone deaf?
Continue reading “That Often Happens in War”
Live Life Exuberantly 