Vacation complete!

Va·ca·tion: an extended period of recreation, especially one spent away from home or traveling. By definition, going to school doesn’t count as vacation. Yes, I traveled to Cambridge and I was away from home, but it was more like an academic Beast, with class attendance, reading, researching and writing, scholarly activities that kept me fully engaged. Despite the…

That was then, this is now…

7 July 1976. Forty years ago. It was the year of the bicentennial of the United States. A flotilla of tall ships paraded in New York City harbor. And I entered West Point for Beast, probably the most psychologically and physically grueling voluntary seven week of my life. But I and the other 1500 new cadets…

By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea!

We had such a great time together celebrating the 4th! Me and 23 of my best friends. And no place says “Fourth of July Party” quite like an ocean-viewing beach chair. The weather was perfect and the company even better. But like many grains of sand stuck in the wrong places, all those people gathered…