Ethiopia: The North I arrived back in the states a few days ago after 12 days in Ethiopia and 5 in Germany; that’s pretty much the yin and the yang of it, civilization wise. It was my first trip to Africa (and Ethiopia), the lush and forbidding jungle it ain’t. Much of Ethiopia sits on […]

A Christmas Journey Last week, on the 22nd, I drove up to Pennsylvania to visit my family, many of whom live south of the Altoona area, the former railroad mecca. As is often the case, the weather in D.C. was sunny and mild and the farther north and west I drove, the grayer and chillier […]

Situational Awareness Two women were run over by a tour bus and killed on December 19th, as they crossed Pennsylvania Ave., NW, in Washington, D.C. Eleven years ago, in 2007, two women were also killed at the exact same place, also by a bus making the same left turn from northbound 7th onto westbound Pennsylvania. […]

The Ad You Will Love or Hate Nike is betting most will love it and there’s the story. Colin Kaepernick is nothing if not polarizing. He is the center of the controversial universe. In many ways he is the last person to choose to represent a product or brand. Unless. Nike has done their homework. […]

Many people have a “defining moment” and John McCain’s was when he refused an early repatriation offer while confined as a prisoner during the Vietnam war. He was a prisoner of the North Vietnamese for seven years, enduring torture and deprivation. That refusal, when most would have given in, showed an uncommon commitment to a […]

Central Asia Ten hours to Istanbul and another four put me in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, yesterday in the middle of a sultry night. The plan is to see some of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and go trekking for ten days in Tajikistan before returning. These places are the crossroads of the world, famous and ancient trading routes […]

It’s June already and we are in the throes of the D.C. guiding season. It’s that time when you can barely remember one group from the next nor what you said or to whom you said it. This is my ninth year and and for the first time, I have had eighth-graders inform me with […]

Last evening, the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, I found myself at Arlington National Cemetery touring with 8th-graders from Ohio. It was 6pm sharp, we were at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and the changing of the guard was underway. It being the day that it was, a sentinel was in charge rather than a […]

Busy Day in Fairfax The news and Facebook, of course, were awash with stories of yesterday’s unusual spate of multiple-alarm fires in the western part of the County, including a couple of rows of town homes, a large apartment building and a bank. Those back porches ablaze are reminiscent of Boston. I left the active […]