Miscellany

  After five months without leaving Northwest Washington, D.C. — and scarcely leaving our apartment — The Photographer and I decided we needed to get away.+ The arboretum staff are fighting a constant battle to maintain native grasses, plants, and wildlife. Part of those efforts involving controlled burning (which we could not do) and brush … Read moreThe Getaway

  Dear Readers:   Thank for your thoughtful messages! It’s so good of you to write. Hearing from you always lifts my spirits.   I’ll be back. Perhaps next week. The Photographer and I are fine, holed up in our apartment trying to minimize the spread of coronavirus and avoid the oppressive heat of July. … Read moreI’ll Be Back

  Sooooooooooooooooo.   It’s been an extraordinary 10 days. A moment and a movement that I hope we will look back on in a few years as a watershed.   In keeping with the general tenor of this lighthearted blog, I am not going to soapbox. (I’ll hold that until we’re a little closer to … Read moreThe Last Trip, Part II

  To those of you who responded to my last post, thank you for answering my question. We have a deal! I’ll keep posting, you’ll keep reading, and all of us understand that this blog is just a harmless way of connecting and amusing one another for a few minutes each day. We all deserve … Read moreLet’s Zoom!

  Sharp-eyed readers and Directrice scholars may have noticed that Posy was not included among the staff of Directrice Global Industries in our end-of-year roundup post. My valiant little kitty has joined Harper in Cat Heaven where, in all likelihood, Harper is probably ignoring her as she did on Earth. But I’d like to think … Read moreMy Valiant Little Kitty

  We at Directrice Global Industries Limited* are all about scientific improvement and growth. But how to improve and grow if you can’t remember where you started?   That’s not a trick question. You can’t! And thus, our annual look-back is not simply a content-stretching maneuver designed to temporarily satiate content-gobblers. Nay, it is a … Read moreConsolidating Our Gains: The Best of 2019

  On our last day in Argentina, Luján — knowing my interest in clothes — arranged for me to meet a designer whose atelier was close to our hotel: Francisco Rojas of Design Maker Lab. This is the scene.   Here, I am clearly rhapsodizing about seaming, darting, and exterior scaffolding. Francisco told me the … Read moreVisit to an Atelier, and Suitcase Post-Mortem

  After several days incommunicado, we can tell you where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing.   In case you haven’t previously had cause to ponder the enormity of South America, allow me to share some useful information. It’S HuGE!! Keep in mind, we started in Buenos Aires, which is roughly midway between the … Read moreBig Boat, Little Boat — And Penguins!

  The last thing we did before leaving Buenos Aires was withdraw a ton of Argentine pesos from the bank . . . forgetting that we would shortly be in Chile where Argentine pesos are not legal tender. Oh no. We found that in this modern age, you can manage for a week in a … Read moreA Remarkable Spot

  All that’s come before was merely prelude to the main event: gLAcIeRS. That’s why we’re here.*   After a few days in Buenos Aires, we boarded a plane and flew south and west to a Patagonian town called El Calafate. El Calafate (pop. 23,000 according to our guide) is in the Argentine part of … Read moreBig Ice