Dampfbad

Need I say more?

Les Gaufres Belges

This weekend we did a spur of the moment visit to Boston (fortified with lots of vitamins and hygienic measures, mind) to play with the nephews and help scare off the very persistent streptococcus that's taken up residence in Ben's throat. The weather was hardly healthy--chilly & damp, but we still managed a visit to Drumlin farm in Lincoln with Alex and Jonathan



and a large scale waffle-making project that provided treats (and meals, for those of us of the sweet-toothed persuasion.) Belgian waffles come in many different forms, but the kind we made were Gaufres Liegeoise. This means a sweet leavened waffle with chunky white sugar pearls in the batter that carmelize where they touch the waffle iron. Very tasty!





36 hours of the above activities did Jean-Cedric in.

My Lazy Week in Washington

This week has been wonderful. No classes, no tests and no work. I have spent most of my time relaxing, lifting weights, reading about Irish history. On Tuesday, some friends and I played a round of golf at Andrews Air Force Base. They actually have a really nice, affordable course, as long as you are with military people. On the fourth hole, we saw the Marine One helicopter suddenly swoop down, and five minutes later Air Force One, which is stationed there, took off, presumably with President Bush inside.

Three holes later, my friend Andy had a nice tee shot towards the right of the fairway. His second shot, however, was not nearly as good. Although he made a solid connection, the shot sailed into a tree just off the fairway. Normally, when a golf ball strikes a tree, it careens off in some strange direction, and usually a direction with which the golfer is unhappy. However, Andy's ball not only bounced in the direction of the green and into the fairway, but it also managed, to the delight of the other three of us, to dislodge a 20 foot branch from the unsuspecting tree. Here is Andy with part of his prey.

Little Phil

As most of you know, the year ended with one final staff ride to the Shenandoah Valley to study the 1864 Civil War campaign. I got to play General Philip Sheridan. "Little Phil," as it turns out, was one of the more competent generals on the Union side, and he became famous after riding from Winchester to Cedar Creek rallying his retreating troops, and turning them around to deal General Early a major defeat. Interestingly, this ride inspired the poem below. This poem, read "to the tempo of a galloping horse," was often read at Republican campaign events and never failed to help rally support for President Lincoln. In fact, Sheridan's successes, along with Sherman's in the south, helped turn the electorate, allowing President Lincoln to win reelection.


Sheridan's Ride
by Thomas Buchanan Read

Up from the South, at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.

And wider still those billows of war
Thundered along the horizon's bar;
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled,
Making the blood of the listener cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray,
With Sheridan twenty miles away.

But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good, broad highway leading down:
And there, through the flush of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night
Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight;
As if he knew the terrible need,
He stretched away with his utmost speed.
Hills rose and fell, but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.

Still sprang from those swift hoofs, thundering south,
The dust like smoke from the cannon's mouth,
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster,
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster.
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls,
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.

Under his spurning feet, the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind;
And the steed, like a barque fed with furnace ire,
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire;
But, lo! he is nearing his heart's desire;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.

The first that the general saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops;
What was to be done? what to do?--a glance told him both.
Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath,
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray;
By the flash of his eye, and his red nostril's play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say:
"I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester down to save the day."

Hurrah! hurrah for Sheridan!
Hurrah! hurrah for horse and man!
And when their statues are placed on high
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldier's Temple of Fame,
There, with the glorious general's name,
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright:
"Here is the steed that saved the day
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester--twenty miles away!"

In a previous post, someone asked what a staff ride was. Well, it turns out that SAIS has a brief overview of staff rides on our website.

Dining In

One of the many Strategic Studies traditions borrowed from the military is the Dining In. It is typically a formal dinner used to build camaraderie among the soldiers, welcome the new officers and bid farewell to the departing. The atmosphere is jovial, many toasts are mandatory, and bad behavior is punished (and good, rewarded) with frequent trips to the grog bowl. (For more on the history of the dining in, please click here or here.)

Since the occasion is festive, good-natured teasing is expected. As you can see below, my friend Steve and I decided to attend the event dressed up as our professor. Unfortunately, the disguises made us look more like Groucho Marx, but it was still funny.

Le Brunch

Okay, I'll try to wind up covereage of last weekend's events in time for the next one. So Sunday morning found a happy party of 8, which included the three sisters, Grandma, the de Foys, and Jean & I, meeting up from brunch at Deborah in the West Village. It was a festive, yet speedy affair, since Mom had to race off (we hope with all baggage accounted for) to the airport in pretty short order.







If I hadn't cropped the picture above, you'd be able to observe that some of us like to have beer for brunch. But I won't say who...

The Ladies Brasuell in New York: Saturday

First, some background info for those of you who need it. To celebrate Grandma's 85th birthday, and incidentally, Mother's day weekend, the three Brasuell sisters organized a weekend of entertainments, delicious meals, and deluxe hotel accommodation in New York. Margaret, Charlotte, & Grandma arrived on Saturday afternoon, joining Mom (who was already here for a conference at the H'vard Club) and I for a Bryant Park Grill lunch and then a matinee show of Sweet Charity at the Al Hirschfeld theater. Very funny, this show; a favorite scene was one where the two character's are stuck in an elevator at the 92nd Street Y, one of them a claustrophobic. He managed to sing his stuff through his phobic spasms.

Afterward, we met up downtown at the Battery Park Ritz Carlton, where the three sisters & their mom were staying for the night.


Everyone put on party dresses/party pants, then we went back up to Times Square and up up up to the 47th Floor of the Marriot Marquis Hotel, to the famous fully rotating restaurant, The View for dinner. Here's the Guest of Honor, checking the menu.

We did two full rotations in the course of our meal, for the record. I won't slow down our page with all the photo documentation of the delicious stuff I ate, but there were oysters, and gravlax blinis, and rack of lamb, and chocolate lava, and that's just what I ate!

On the margins of Saturday's main events, Mom and I also managed a morning trip to The Point, a yarn shop/cafe in the village. Mom restocked her yarn supplies for the trip home, since her knitting kit was one of the casualties of losing her briefcase on the train. Here we are, stopping to admire the red tulips in Union Square.

Post-Quechee Debrief

Last Friday after work, 5 people fit themselves snugly into the confines of Jetta Jimbo, our newest zipcar friend, and made our way over to Ridgewood for dinner with Bill and Barbara (aka Mombar, of course!) We had a great evening, with an A+ dinner (thanks to Emily for creative direction and Mombar for expert execution) and lots of good conversation. Bill, who's retiring in short order, was duly toasted and congratulated. Congratulations, Bill!

Here are Mom & Bill, thinking happily about retired life and all the great blogging-time that will afford.


and Cecile, agreeing with them.


E & Barbara, planning their next New York date.


Coming up tomorrow: E & Mom framed by tulips in Union Square, and the setting sun, seen from the top of a rotating, 50th floor restaurant.

Let's schvitz!

Last week I struggled a bit with the conundrum of how to celebrate the Fete des Meres over the weekend, seeing as, most unusually, my very own Mere was going to be present in person for the Fete. Then I had this idea: a schvitz! This is an old new york tradition, basically a public bathhouse with a full menu of sauna-like personal hygiene experiences. Here is a lively description of the social aspects of the schvitz.

I know Mom was really tempted, but in the end her lack of a bathing suit prohibited her from accepting. But I will have an opportunity to schvitz after all, as it turns out. Ricki and I are treating our friend Kate, who will be getting married this summer, to a schvitz on Thursday, a bachelorette party of sorts. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sun and Moon

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for today (May 3) is memorable. Check it out!

Quechee in the Spring

Here are a couple snaps of the weekend in Quechee with the de Foys. We had one sunny spring day, Friday, which was spent walking up Mt. Tom overlooking Woodstock



and one rainy spring day which was spent viewing the animals at the Billings Farm (of which there are sadly no pics, because Billings has some lovely cows) and playing Memory with Uncle Jean-Cedric.



And here are Henri & Cecile at the front door of Mombar and Bill's 7B Deere Run. A great weekend!

Mombar, With Zagat Accolades

Last week we were enroute to another neighborhood eatery, Ubol's, when we stumbled on this:





and happened to have camera in hand! To be sampled soon, we hope. The menu looks delicious.