Frightful Friday - Happy Halloween

This belongs in Doc Spo's Office 

Every tree should have flashing purple eyes.

Fear not the dead, the ghosts of the past, it is the living who are most likely to harm you. 

Waiting for the Great Pumpkin to Appear. 

Halloween for Adults who indulge. 

 

The Thursday Ramble: Aimless ramble about life

I was listening to a friend the other morning, waiting for water aerobics to start.  A few years ago he was diagnosed with a stage four cancer, was treated with surgery and chemical warfare and was one of the small percentage of survivors. He said it changed his outlook on life. He no longer worries about things, something is going to kill you in the end, no matter what you do or don't do today, the thing that gets you is probably not something you spent a lifetime worrying about. So why worry? He is a decade or so older than I am, and lives each day as a bonus. So why is he doing water aerobics, because he enjoys it, and it helps him stay fast enough to keep up with his grandkids. 

My health insurance provider keeps bugging me to remember to take screening tests. Calls, texts, emails, and direct mail. They want me to worry and obsess about the 101 little things that might be the end of my life. I really wish they would stop.  I have stopped the phone calls, after about the third time of insisting that they stop calling me.  I am an adult, in consultation with my doctor, I have made informed choices about what I will do and won't do. That should be enough. 

When I was growing up, one of my father's flying buddies was a Doctor, a pretty good one. One Sunday morning at the airport he was in a foul mood, he finally let loose with what he was thinking, "these people who think they are going to live forever - bug me!" He had spent much of the night, at the insistence of family members, extending the dying of a patient. Interestingly, Doc died of a massive heart attack, driving a boat around the lake behind his house. He went out the way he wanted to - fast.   

Life has many ups and downs, but in the end, it all ends the same way. Have a lot of fun along the way. 

 

My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws - Closing out October 2025

What is the Photo? Someone asked to see the arts "Showcase." We ended up with a full house again, the items are numbered with a poster explaining each item, and who loaned it for display. The showcase is just outside the entrance to the community bar and restaurant. (Technically it is open to the public, but security won't let you in the front gate unless you live here or are invited by someone who lives here.)

Where have I been this week? The Community Center for four different arts committee meetings, the pool, the farmers market, a long walk in a shopping plaza, a long walk in old town Alexandria, a walk around the local neighborhood, National Harbor in Maryland, Crystal City in an unsuccessful attempt to spot Blobby running the Marine Corps Marathon. About 35,000 runners started the race, I missed him. Mt. Vernon for a walk. 

Who have I talked with this week?  It was an arts heavy week, Pratibha, Linda, Joan, Rebecca, Amy, Kevin, Ruth, Dian, Gail, Guido, and John.  I talked on the phone to Doc Spo. My Sweet Bear, lest anyone think he is not talking to me. Doug Braeburn, the CEO of Mt. Vernon - he was in the shop when I was finishing up my walk. 

What did I read this week? I finished two books, "In Praise of Idleness" was written between WWI and WWII and talks about economics and political theories, a shocking amount of what he talked about applies 90 years later. The second book was "How Do You Feel?, by Jessi Gold, MD, MS, a psychiatrist. She explores mental health among health care providers and medical students, during COVID.  It is informative and intriguing, but repetitive. Each chapter follows either her personal story or the story of a composite patient, through over a period of time. The format of each chapter being an update on the case, gets a little circular. I understand why it is written this way, she is a researcher by training, but for the non-medical reader it fails to bring each life story to a conclusion. Time to dig some light reading out of the stack and head to the library. 

Who deserves a nice scratch behind the ears this week?  The cutest Golden Retriever in the DC area, he was watching the Marine Corps Marathon, mostly sitting or lying quietly for almost 2-hours, never saying a word despite thousands of people around and running past. I could tell what he really wanted to do was run along, Good Boy! 

What is the blog quote of the week? 

"I also realized that maybe the most rebellious thing I can do to fight against this fury-driven fascist government of hate, is to continue to be kind; continue to help others in need; continue to be caring, compassionate, and sympathetic; continue to do what good I can, whenever I can, to whomever I can."

What made me cringe this week? Hearing Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for the first time in a retail store.  

Travel Tuesday: Jamestown Glassworks since 1608

I am fascinated by glass making and glass blowing, taking simple ingredients and lots and lots of heat to make something stable and beautiful. Glassmaking at Jamestown Virginia dates back to 1608.  I visited the glassworks in the 1970's with my grandmother, I was delighted to see that the glassworks had expanded and was still in operation. 

Moody Monday: Turning The Page

I will finish the year having read probably about 80 books, fewer than last year, more than my goal.  Most of them were good, a handful really great reads. Some real page turners.   

I am rapidly approaching two years in retirement. I continue to feel changes in my life as a result.  I am active and engaged, spending time doing things I enjoy, and being of service to my community and my profession.  At times the calendar is a little to full - it interferes with my desire to take a nap. Increasingly I feel the urge to turn the page on issues that filled my days in the past.  

I recall when I was working, wishing that the older generation would step aside and let new voices - new ideas be heard. I am hoping that I am doing that, I certainly feel the desire to do so. 

There are several places where I read obituaries, our community newsletter, the Bar journal, my original hometown newspaper. I always look at the age that people died at.  And think about my age, and if I live as long as they did, how many years do I have left to enjoy life - to turn the pages - to write entirely new pages, before the book of my life is blowing in the wind.  If the next decade flies by as fast as the last decade did, it will pass in the blink of an eye.  The time to turn the page and enjoy the adventure is now.  

Sunday Five: Turkeys

1: When was the last time you saw live turkeys (feathered or political)? 

2: Would you roast, or deep fry a turkey? 

3: Should stuffing or dressing be cooked inside or outside of the bird? 

4: Do you detest turkey? 

5: Canberrys from a can, or cooked from fresh? 

My Answers:

1: When was the last time you saw live turkeys (feathered or political)? This pair is out at Mt. Vernon, I check on them everytime I go there for a stroll. 

2: Would you roast, or deep fry a turkey? Roast. 

3: Should stuffing or dressing be cooked inside or outside of the bird? I have changed on this, outside of the bird. The bird cooks better, and the stuffing/dressing is just as good. 

4: Do you detest turkey? I rather like it. 

5: Cranberries from a can, or cooked from fresh? Cooked from fresh, let me know if you need tips on how to cook cranberries.  

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States in 52 Weeks - Texas

 

Texas is in the middle and bottom of the continental United States, when you look at a map, Texas is the weird pointy part center at the bottom of the map. Texas is huge, by landmass it is the second largest state (Alaska is larger.) 

When people think of Texas they think of Dallas - Ft Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin - I have been to all of them.  Those are the largest cities. There are vast swaths of rolling farm and grazing land.  The west part of the state is arid, and where the major oil fields are (I did an AARP gig in that part of the state.) 

The two photos above were taken in Ft Worth, I was there for a board meeting in 2019. 

Texas politics are conservative - to the point of being troubling. 

Dallas and Houston are major airline hub cities, it is a state that is hard to avoid. 

I will likely be in San Antonio early next year for a board meeting. 

Foodie Friday: Always on Hand

I enjoy playing in the kitchen, and we keep a well stocked pantry. We could eat well for a couple of weeks with what is on hand at any given time. With few exceptions such as shopping for a special holiday meal, I don't go shopping with a list or a plan for what I am going to make, I go shopping, see what looks good, bring it home and then decide what I will make from it. Often, I don't know what I am going to cook for dinner, until I open the refrigerator and look in the pantry and see what inspires me. 

There are a handful of core ingredients that I always have on hand. Here are a few. 

Onions: There is a joke around here that every dinner starts with peel and chop an onion. Not always, I don't use onion when I am cooking fish, but many savory dishes start with onions. So there are always a few in the basket. Storage onions come in four varieties.  Yellow onions are my go to universal onion. They store well, 2-3 weeks most of the time. Red or purple onions are sweeter, I prefer them if the onion will be uncooked such as in a salad. White onions are less common than yellow onions and I find them to be somewhat interchangeable. Sweet onions are well sweeter, the increased sugar content yields a much shorter shelf life. If you buy them, use them within a week or so. I find all of these to be interchangeable. Use what you have, don't fuss or worry that the recipe calls for one variety and you don't have it, use what you have. 

Carrots: There are always carrots in the refrigerator.  They can be cooked as a stand alone vegetable, raw in salads or used as a flavor base in soups, stews, braises, stocks.  While the exotic rainbow colors are tasty and fun to look at, the stock standard cheap orange carrots work well. Carrots store very well, a month or more in the refrigerator. Carrot trivia, wild carrots are a pale yellow almost white in color, the standard orange carrot were created by cross pollinating carrots with beets. 

Celery: I know the jokes, celery has the texture of hair stuck together with water.  For a salad I chop them fine.  They provide a great background flavor in soups, stews, braises, stocks. Wrapped to prevent evaporation, celery stores for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.  I always have it on hand.  

Sweet Peppers: There was a time when this ingredient of the trinity of cajun food was included in my always on hand list, but it tends to cause digestive difficulties for us. I have to be very careful with it. When I do buy sweet peppers, I generally by the small varieties. 

Butter: We have come to prefer Irish butter, here in the USA, Aldi has the best price. We keep a couple of pounds in the freezer most of time.  

A few pantry items:

All purpose flour.

Bread flour (higher gluten content - strong flour in England.) 

White granulated sugar.

Powdered or icing sugar.

Brown sugar (light or dark, or a mix of the two.) 

Kosher salt

Pepper corns and a good pepper mill (grinder) 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Red Wine Vinegar, 

White Wine Vinegar

White distilled vinegar 

Canned tomatoes, chopped, sauce, paste, pureed. 

Canned beans

Dried beans 

Rice

Chicken stock

There is nothing earth shattering or exotic on my list. I am always surprised when someone says that can't make something because they don't have these simple staples in the house.  Keeping a well stocked pantry and refrigerator makes it easier to play in the kitchen. Cook what is fresh, seasonal, and preferably local.       

The Thursday Ramble: A Rare Ask

If we are lucky enough to live long enough, 

we are all going to get old someday. 

I spent the last 25 years of my working life, at the intersection of law and aging; advocating for supports and services that protect and improve the quality of life for adults as we age. 

I retired almost two years ago, as Director of the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging. The Commission has spent decades doing research, policy development and education on critical issues and providing technical assistance to professionals.  

Unfortunately the American Bar Association is under attack by the current administration, accused of being a bastion of liberal ideas and Wokeness. We are being attacked for advocating for Due Process Rights, the independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law. The very core ideals that have shaped this country since colonial times. 

This has resulting an unprecedented loss of funding for programs across the country that supported important work, including the work of the Commission on Law and Aging.  When I retired indirect federal funding was about 40% of the Commission's budget, and that critical part of the funding is gone, or at risk of being gone when the Federal government returns to work. 

Today is the annual American Bar Association Giving Day. 

Hence my rare ask. 

If you can, and you feel comfortable doing so, please make a contribution, large or small, to the ABA Commission on Law and Aging at this link. https://givingday.americanbar.org/campaigns/commission-on-law-and-aging-1  

 

My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws October 22, 2025

Where have I been this week? Mt. Vernon for a long walk, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the National Symphony Orchestra, Crystal City for an amazing lunch, the Farmers Market, the pool, the community center and the pharmacy. Old town waterfront, and the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Into Washington DC for a long walk, Mt Vernon for a long walk. The pool. 

Who have I talked with this week? My sweet bear, Amy, Marcel, Mary, a couple of bored National Guardsmen walking the streets of DC, the shuttle driver at Mt. Vernon. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  Quiche - I used up the remainder of a bunch of cheeses, beef stew with an usual ingredient - zucchini I had it and it needed to be used,  a rice, eggplant, and beef stew, pumpkin custard. 

What have I read this week? "Small Wonders" a collection of essays by Barbara Kingsolver. It was excellent. What was the best thing she said, she gives a book she is reading 30 pages to draw her in, if not she drops in the donate bin. I am working on two other books, "How Do You Feel, and In Praise of Idleness.  I will finish both of those in a few days. 

What did I go out of my way to see this week? One of artists at the Torpedo Factory Art Center has caused a bit of a stir by posting his opinion in the window. The city owns the building, the Mayor has responded that it is protected first amendment speech. I love living here. 

What was I thinking during my Sunday walk? Children are naturally creative, give them paper and crayons and they start to draw. Then adults criticize the creativity out of them, trying to show them the "right way" to see and interpret the world. Our creative spirits are crushed as children. As adults we need to reclaim our creativity, purple skies, round faces, color outside the lines.  Allow yourself 5 minutes a day to create without hearing the critics. The more we create, the more creative we become.  I do that with my writing. I spend 2-3 hours a week writing for this blog, because I wanted to develop my writing, to get better at expressing my thoughts and feelings (I am still not very good at feelings - I will spend some time thinking about what suppressed my feelings.)

What have I seen that makes me love living here? 

Our local city government. 

The Face of Evil 

A Bald Eagle near Mt Vernon

 

Travel Tuesday: Out to Sea

 

Moody Monday: Which Will You Lay To Rest This Year

The call went out a couple of months ago, for Halloween themed items for the arts showcase here at the condo.  I thought about it, I had these small wood "coffins" that I had picked up at an art supply store a couple of years ago, and had struggled with trying to figure out what to do with them.  In the pile of art supplies was the circuit board out of an old computer that died, hard to say how many years ago, and on that were two computer memory cards.  

It was time to get creative. I painted the coffins inside and out. I clipped the corners of the memory cards and made blocks for them to rest on, and glued them in place. I thought about are we burying our hopes and dreams or our failures and nightmares.  Then it hit me, joys or sorrows. Good memories or bad memories. Smiley face and Frowning Face symbols. 

And in life we have a choice of living with our sad memories, or leaving them behind, burying them. We can also bury our joys, our happy memories. (Computer memory cards?)  

Hence, this piece goes in the showcase on Thursday. 
 

The Sunday Five: Cemeteries

The Freedman's Cemetery is across street from the Catholic Cemetery and just up the hill from the large city cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. Even the cemeteries were segregated in the old south. Do you really care who is decomposing next to you? 

1: Is your final plan, burial, entombment, cremation or other? 

2: Do you have a final resting place? 

3: How will you haut those who live on behind? 

4: When was the last time you visited family graves sites? 

5: What should your gravestone read? 

My answers: 

1: Is your final plan, burial, entombment, cremation or other?  Cremation, dumping me in the forest to feed the critters is frowned on in this country. 

2: Do you have a final resting place? No. I inherited a cemetery lot in the last place I would want to spend eternity, and gave it to my sister - my brother-in-law filled that space. I need to decide where to dump the ashes or I will end up in my nephew's basement. 

3: How will you haut those who live on behind? I will probably keep sending annoying emails. 

4: When was the last time you visited family graves sites? Last fall there was a family funeral for sweet bear's family, for my family three years ago when my sisters husband died. 

5: What should your gravestone read? Origin is Not Destiny

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States in 52 Weeks - Tennessee

Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville 

The Original Grand Ole Opry stage 

My moment in the spotlight

I have been to or through Tennesee many, many times. It is one of those long flat states - south of Kentucky, north of Georgia and Alabama. About 400 miles from east to west, and about 200 miles from north to south. Politically, it is stuck in the old south, at times unpleasantly backwards in it's politics. 

In the far east, in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains you will find Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. Very much redneck resort land. In the far west, Memphis - on the Mississippi River.  The photos above are from a board meeting in Nashville. 

Nashville fancies itself as the Athens of the South, and built a full size replica of the Parthenon in Athens, complete with a statue of Athena gilded in gold. 

Tennessee is a pretty state, the politics lead me to keep my distance.   

Funday Friday: Happy Anniversary

33 year ago, we became a family, ten years ago today we were married at Jones Point Park, here in Alexandria.  Being together has enhanced our lives, given us stability, opportunity, and adventure. 

We understand one another, we respect one another, we are kind to one another, and we make one-another laugh, we deeply love one another. The sum of the parts is greater than the individuals alone. 

Happy Anniversary my Sweet Bear! 

The Thursday Ramble: Free Your Mind To Be Creative

Doc Spo commented the other day, on Facebook, at how useless Facebook has become for seeing what family and friends are doing. Facebook has devolved into reposts of memes and advertising. I read recently that the shine is off of "social media" that less and less real content is being posted. And yet many are addicted, and spend hours doom scrolling through hours of influencers and advertising. 

Free your mind. Delete Facebook off of your phone. 

I am not saying give it up, it is still on my bookmarks bar on my computer, but it is not my constant companion in my pocket, begging to fill my mind with clutter in every spare moment. Four years ago, I bought a new phone. When the guy in the phone store went to transfer the content from my old phone to my new phone, there was not enough memory space to download the app to do so. He asked if he could delete Facebook and Instagram, assuring me that when I installed them on my new phone all of my content would come back.  I said fine, then I never installed those on that phone, or on the new phone that replaced it this past spring.  When I have a spare moment, my mind is not cluttered by the constant stream of FB or Insta. I also deleted the "games" off of my phone, another time suck begging for my attention. 

The algorithm of social media is tweaked based on input from  psychologists to draw you in, fill your brain, make you want more, to addict you.  The profit in social media is driven by keeping you staring at the screen. And while we stare at the screen the world around us fades into darkness. 

Look up, look around. 

I walk 6-10 hours a week, every week. When the weather is so that I can, I walk outside, or inside - yes I have become one of those old guys who walks laps in the shopping mall on a cold or rainy day. I don't listen to my phone, I listen to what is around me. The birds in the trees, the rustle of the leaves, the flow of the water, the buzz of the bees, the conversations around me. And even more important for creativity I listen to my internal dialog. Left to its own, my brain gets creative to fill the void.  If I fill my brain with input other peoples voices, my brain is busy processing that input, if I walk in silence, my brain creates content to fill that void. But that only happens if I allow my brain time without content to process. 

Delete Facebook, leave your earbuds at home. Free you mind to be creative.     

My World of Wonders - The Wednesday Ws - Middle of October Already

Where have I been this week? The week started off in Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia, we drove home from there stopping at the massively oversized Wegmans in Lorton, then Mt. Vernon, and the Farmers Market. Shopping run and walk. The pool, the gym. Out to lunch at Noodles, and then a nice wander and shopping. The gym, the pool several times. Mt Vernon for a long walk. 

What have I been up to in the Kitchen this week?  Lamb tenderloin and roast butternut squash, pizza, leek and potato soup, braised beef short ribs with roast potatoes and haricot verts. I made my holiday fruitcake, a double batch this year and set them to mellow with good booze. 

What languages have I heard this week? English and Spanish of course, and when I was out at Mt Vernon French and Italian.  French I understand about 20% of. Italian is so wonderfully rhythmic and musical. 

Who have I talked with this week? My Sweet Bear, Erica, Nancy, Eric, TJ, and the nice lady driving the golf cart up the hill at Mt. Vernon. 

What have I been reading?  "In My Remaining Years" a biography of a youngish artist - about 20% I found interesting. 

What have I been listening to?  Streaming music, classical, jazz, and hits of the 70s and 80s. When I walk outdoors, the birds, the wind, the leaves. 

Who deserves a big THANK YOU this week? The Nobel Prize Committee. 

What made me smile this week? Sweet Bear, aka Wicked Hamster, got a reply to a comment from Angus in St. Andrews! 

    8:04 PM

WickedHamster

I enjoyed the videos from StAU. By coincidence, we were just down in Williamsburg VA the past couple of days, where I got a good taste of the College of William & Mary. I was struck by the similarities to StA: W&M has a an enrollment on 10,000 in a town of a population of 15,000; one is the 3rd oldest English speaking univ while W&M is ninth; their locations are both in fairly remote towns (StA much more so, but W&M is really in the middle of a forest); the other attraction of both towns is, one the one hand, an historic golf course, and on the other Colonial Williamsburg, the former capital of the Virginia Colony-the Governor's Palace and the House of Burgesses still intact, among others. Apparently I'm not the only one who's noticed similarities. Further research via the modern-day miracle of the internet revealed StA and W&M have a joint degree program: 2 years at one, 2 years at the other, and you end up with degrees from both institutions. Highly selective and limited to certain specific fields. What a deal!

October 12, 2025 at 11:04 PM

Angus

Employers seem to love the 2 years in VA, 2 years in Scotland degree course. It presumably signals to corporate recruiters self-reliance and maturity and has an exceptionally high post graduation job offer rate.

 
 

Travel Tuesday: Williamsburg Virginia